AAC Supreme Spiritual Council defrocks Bishop Gevorg Saroyan

ArmInfo. By order of His Holiness Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and according to a  January 27 decision of the Supreme Spiritual Council, Bishop Gevorg Saroyan has been defrocked and returned the status of a layman. He will henceforth be known by his secular name, Arman Saroyan.

According to the press office of the Mother See of Etchmiadzin, the  basis for the cleric's deposition was the fact that Saroyan had   challenged the order of His Holiness Karekin II of January 10, which  removed him from his position as Primate of the Masiatsotn Diocese.  It was noted that by challenging the Patriarchate's decree to dismiss  him  as diocesan abbot and insisting on returning to the monastery,  he had breached his vow of obedience and filed a lawsuit against Holy  Etchmiadzin, demanding his reinstatement as abbot.

The Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) emphasized that the Supreme  Spiritual Council, having noted the slanderous accusations leveled by  Bishop Gevorg in his public speeches and statements against the See  of Holy Etchmiadzin, his fellow clergy, and the Catholicos of All  Armenians, strongly condemned such behavior, considering it a gross  violation of the principles of ecclesiastical order, canonical  obedience, and ecclesiastical unity. It proposed that the Catholicos  of All Armenians declare Bishop Gevorg Saroyan defrocked.

"The bishop violated his vow of obedience, thereby committing  canonical deviations and unlawful actions. Henceforth, the defrocked  cleric will be counted among the laity under the name Arman Saroyan,"  the Armenian Apostolic Church noted in a statement.

It was also reported that the Supreme Spiritual Council also  addressed the legislative initiatives considered last week in the  Armenian Parliament and related to the Church. Specifically, it  mentioned legislative initiatives regarding land and historical and  cultural monuments, which contradict the fundamental principles of  current civil and sectoral legislation, violate fundamental  principles of property rights, and create unfounded assumptions about  the danger of alienation of religious monuments by the Armenian  Church. The report emphasized that these legislative initiatives,  which have no real legal basis, are not aimed at addressing the  pristine preservation of holy sites and spiritual and cultural  monuments, do not address any tangible social problems, and primarily  serve to foster and deepen anti-Church sentiments. The Armenian  Church's position is that the alienation of religious monuments  should be prohibited in general, regardless of ownership.

The meeting also discussed the organization of the Bishops'  Conference convened by the Catholicos of All Armenians in St. Polten,  Austria. It was decided to form an organizing committee to coordinate  the preparatory and organizational work of the conference.

Recall, on January 10, 2026, by decree of Karekin II, Bishop Gevorg  Saroyan, who had joined Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's  anti-church campaign,  was removed from his post as Primate of the  Masyatsotn Diocese. The grounds for his removal were abuse of office,  failure to fulfill his duties, as well as coercion and pressure  against the clergy of the diocese. On January 16, the bishop filed a  lawsuit against the Armenian Apostolic Church, calling for the  Catholicos' decision to be declared invalid.