Aramayis Takhmazian was defrocked in November after defying Catholicos Garegin II and backing Pashinian’s efforts to depose the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He has refused to leave Talin’s Holy Mother of God Church since then, buoyed by the strong backing of Tavros Sapeyan, Talin’s controversial pro-government mayor.
Sapeyan led a group of local officials and government loyalists who blocked the entrance to the church early in morning to prevent Father Hayk Sahakian, Takhmazian’s replacement, and other priests from holding a Christmas liturgy there. The church was surrounded by police officers who did nothing to let the clergymen authorized by the regional diocese enter it.
Videos of the incident posted online showed Ara Zoghrabian, a lawyer representing the church’s Mother See, asking one of the officers at the scene to ensure their access to the worship site in line with Armenian law.
“Mr. Deputy Police Chief, we want to enter the church,” he said.
“Don’t ask me that question,” replied the officer.
The priests and Zohrabian had to leave the scene and celebrate Christmas in another church located in the nearby village of Mastara. The lawyer condemned the government loyalists’ actions as a violation of Armenian law which makes it a crime to obstruct religious ceremonies.
The diocese encompassing Armenia’s Aragatsotn province already alleged such a violation after Sapeyan reportedly disrupted a New Year’s Eve service at the Talin church on December 31. Its jailed primate, Bishop Mkrtich Proshian, condemned the mayor’s “illegal” actions in a statement issued from prison.
Sapeyan was among a group of aggressive men who tried to burst into the church’s main cathedral in Echmiadzin on December 18 during a prayer service led by Garegin. He was caught on camera swearing at a priest during a scuffle with worshippers attending the service. Law-enforcement authorities have declined to launch criminal proceedings against the mayor.
Bishop Proshian, who is also a nephew of Garegin, was arrested in October on charges of forcing his subordinates to attend opposition rallies held in the run-up to 2021 parliamentary elections. He denies the accusations. Three archbishops loyal to the Catholicos and very critical of Pashinian also remain under arrest on different charges which they too reject as politically motivated.
The Armenian Church earlier lost access to the medieval Hovanavank monastery also located in Aragatsotn. The monastery is now controlled by another defrocked pro-Pashinian priest, Aram Asatrian, with the help of the government and police. The church’s Mother See in Echmiadzin has condemned the “illegal seizure” of Hovanavank and pledged to use “all legal means” to regain control of the site owned by it.