Pashinyan places himself above God by attacking the Armenian Apostolic Church: Robert Amsterdam

Pashinyan is putting himself above God by attacking the Armenian Apostolic Church. International lawyer Robert Amsterdam wrote about this.

“Without any legal basis, Armenia’s increasingly autocratic leader Nikol Pashinyan, who failed to win even half the votes in the parliamentary elections held in June, has decided that his government should determine the future leadership and direction of the Armenian Apostolic Church, ignoring international standards for religious freedom.

The standoff has now reached an extraordinary new stage. Pashinyan’s government has put Armenia’s so-called “spiritual security” and Church reforms on its political agenda, proposing a parliamentary inquiry into the “deep systemic crisis” in the Church, which could be followed by legislative changes.

This comes against the backdrop of months of pressure on the Armenian Apostolic Church. High-ranking clergy, including His Holiness the Catholicos of All Armenians, Karekin II has been brought to justice, and Pashinyan has repeatedly demanded his removal.

The government is now trying to move from attacking individual clergy to reforming the Church itself.

The Armenian Apostolic Church is one of the oldest Christian institutions in existence. It has withstood centuries of foreign rule, persecution, the Genocide, and Soviet repression, preserving the Armenian faith and identity even in regions where an independent Armenian state did not exist. Its leadership is determined by its own church structures and traditions, not by the political preferences of the government currently ruling in Yerevan.

The Supreme Spiritual Council this week rejected yet another government intervention, declaring that “the National Assembly is not an appropriate forum for discussing internal church issues” and that Church reforms “cannot be carried out under external pressure, threats, or any other arbitrariness.”

Robert Amsterdam, founder and managing partner of Amsterdam & Partners LLP, notes:

“Nikol Pashinyan behaves as if there is no institution in Armenia that is above his personal authority. He has now placed himself above the Parliament, above the Church, and, apparently, above God.

For nearly two thousand years, the Armenian Apostolic Church has withstood emperors, dictators, persecution, and genocide. Now the Prime Minister thinks he can decide who should lead it, how it should govern itself, and how Armenians should perceive their Church.

This is not reform. This is an attempt to politically seize an independent religious institution.

The silence of the international community is no longer justifiable. If any government were to try to determine the leadership and internal governance of an ancient religious institution elsewhere in Europe, it would rightly cause great indignation.

The Church does not belong to Nikol Pashinyan. It does not belong to his government. It belongs to its believers, and its independence must be protected.”

Amsterdam & Partners calls on governments, religious leaders, human rights organizations, and Diaspora Armenian communities around the world to speak out against political interference in the affairs of the Armenian Apostolic Church and to defend its right to determine its own leadership and internal affairs without state coercion.

Amsterdam & Partners LLP is an international law firm specializing in political defense and human rights, based in London and Washington, D.C.