Pashinyan considers the Armenian Apostolic Church as a major impediment to his plans, trying to undermine the church’s authority, says Eurasianet

Tension between church and state is bubbling over in Armenia over Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s plan to overhaul Armenian society, Eurasianet writes.

As noted, Pashinyan’s “Real Armenia” blueprint asks Armenians to draw a line on the past and focus on future economic development. In effect, Pashinyan wants citizens to stop fixating on such issues as the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh and concentrate on modernizing society so that the country can economically compete in the 21st century.

The publication states that the prime minister evidently considers the Armenian Apostolic Church as a major impediment to his modernization plans, so on June 1, he dropped a bombshell accusation clearly designed to undermine the church’s authority, speculating that the country’s top cleric, Karekin II, has fathered a child in violation of his vow of celibacy.

Church leaders responded the next day, issuing a statement framing Pashinyan’s accusation as traitorous action. The statement did not directly address whether Karekin II was a father, while insisting that the paternity question was an internal Church affair and not a matter of state.

Pashinyan wasn’t bowed by the Church’s condemnation, and on June 3 he revived his call for the Church leaders to specify whether or not the Catholicos had violated his celibacy vow.

The article says the outburst of acrimony was days in the making. Pashinyan in late May suggested the government should have a major role in the selection of future Church leaders, while the prime minister’s wife, Anna Hakobyan, attacked the Church, alleging it is a hotbed of “pedophiles.”

The tension between Karekin II and Pashinyan is rooted in Armenia’s devastating defeat at the hands of the Azerbaijani military in the first phase of the Second Karabakh War. At that time, Karekin II issued a video call for Pashinyan to resign.

“It’s uncertain whether Pashinyan’s attack on the Church will reap political dividends for his Real Armenia program. He appears to have alienated a segment of his support base. An appeal signed by representatives of 17 non-governmental organizations criticized Pashinyan for using misogynistic language ‘as a tool for political targeting,’ and demanded he issue an apology,” the website states.

“Sexually degrading and misogynistic language towards women, regardless of political context or purpose, is unacceptable, especially from the highest official in the country,” the NGO statement said.