A public demonstration titled “We Are Together with Etchmiadzin” took place Thursday outside the Armenian Embassy in Moscow, expressing solidarity with the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) amid escalating tensions between the Church and Armenia’s government. The event was organized by the civic movement “Heirs of Noah” with the participation of the Russian and New Nakhichevan Diocese of the AAC. It coincided with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s visit to Russia, according to RIA Novosti.

Participants called on Armenia’s leadership to end what they described as political pressure on Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and other senior clergy, and demanded the release of detained church leaders. Demonstrators held signs reading “The Church is the foundation of Armenian identity,” “The unity of the Church is the unity of the nation,” and “Shame on the authorities persecuting clergy.”

Levon Mukanyan, a representative of the diocese, said participants intend to deliver a resolution to Armenia’s ambassador in Moscow urging the government to stop interfering in Church affairs. Armenian communities in Belgium, Germany, and France are preparing similar appeals for local diplomatic missions.

Tensions between the Armenian government and the AAC have intensified following Prime Minister Pashinyan’s proposal to reform the process for electing the Catholicos, a change that would increase the state’s role in choosing the Church’s leader.

The political climate escalated further after the arrest of several high-ranking clerics in Armenia: Archbishops Bagrat Galstanyan and Mikael Ajapahyan, Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, and Arshak Khachatryan, chief of staff of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. Businessman and Church benefactor Samvel Karapetyan was also detained. The arrests provoked widespread backlash both in Armenia and among the diaspora.

Late November saw additional controversy after pro-government social media channels circulated a statement from a group of AAC hierarchs accusing Catholicos Karekin II of “condoning sacrilege.” The claim was tied to the appearance of intimate videos online purportedly involving Archbishop Khachatryan, who denied any connection to the recordings.

Two days later, some of the same signatories urged the Catholicos to abdicate, accusing him of “arbitrary governance” and “political interference.”

In response to public debate sparked by the prime minister’s remarks about “renewing” the Church, the Mother See issued a statement rejecting claims that the AAC lacks its own Constitution. Church officials stressed that canonical and statutory documents had been developed over decades and approved by several ecclesiastical councils, though final ratification was postponed due to the pandemic and the war. They added that progress on the Church Constitution has stalled because key commission leaders are now under arrest, and expressed hope that a National Ecclesiastical Council would soon be convened to address the current crisis.

Thursday’s demonstration was the latest in a series of diaspora actions. In November, activists gathered outside the Armenian Embassy in Moscow demanding the release of detained clergy and political figures. Participants argue that government actions risk deepening divisions within the Armenian nation and insist that pressure on the Church must stop.