The leader of the Diocese of Artsakh has isolated himself. The diocese has not had any meetings for a year

Last year, Nikol Pashinyan tried to remove the Catholicos of All Armenians from the throne with a group of church bishops under the name of “improving the church”.

For months, various representatives of the government, led by Nikol Pashinyan, were insulting the Catholicos, saying that the Catholicos “has a child” and should leave.

In November 2025, Nikol Pashinyan received the bishops who joined him in the Government, who were publicly named “Tiradavner”. Among those bishops were: Archbishop Abraham Mkrtchyan, Archbishop Arakel Karamyan, Bishop Anushavan Zhamkochian, Archbishop Kchoyan of Navasard, Bishop Tigranyan of Artak, Bishop Gevorg Saroyan and, surprisingly, Leader of the Diocese of Artsakh Vrtanes bishop Abrahamyan.

That move of the bishops caused great anger among the public, and the Armenians of Artsakh expressed their concerns about the step taken by Bishop Vrtanes, saying that it is unacceptable for them that the person representing the Diocese of Artsakh meets and shakes the hand of Nikol Pashinyan, who surrendered Artsakh.

Moreover, a day later, the Armenians of Artsakh gathered near the residence of the bishop of the diocese, trying to understand why His Holiness Vrtanes took that step, but the bishop did not receive any of the gathered. The Armenians of Artsakh even appealed to the Bishop, asking to discuss the issue of changing the head of the diocese.

For a long time now, Bishop Vrtanes does not appear in public places, does not participate in liturgies, does not speak about the problems of Artsakh Armenians in any way.

168.am Chairman of the Diocesan Council of Artsakh From Lernik Hovhannisyan I wondered if they had any meeting with Bishop Vrtanes, does he participate in any way in the complex events taking place in the life of Artsakh Armenians?

“I have nothing to do with him, I haven’t seen him since December 8, I only have contact with members of the diocesan council, and that’s it.” I repeat, I have nothing to do with him, we have not even met by chance during this time.

According to my information, during this entire period, he did not meet with the members of the diocesan council, in any case, he did not see any of those in Yerevan.” 168.am–Lernik Hovhannisyan said in a conversation with

To the question: do the members of the diocesan council have no desire to meet with the leader of the diocese, our interlocutor answered that they have applied to the Mother See, the Mother See handles the administration.

“We keep in touch with the Mother See, we have applied with a corresponding letter and we are waiting for the Mother See to take over,” emphasized Lernik Hovhannisyan.

Let’s remind that last year, on May 26, Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, went to Bern, Switzerland, and participated in the “Religious Freedom” organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Swiss Protestant Church. at the international forum entitled “Preservation of the Armenian spiritual, cultural and historical heritage in Artsakh/Nagar Karabakh”. During the conference, His Holiness addressed not only the issues of preservation of the spiritual and cultural heritage in Artsakh, but also the return of prisoners and Armenians of Artsakh held illegally in Baku.

After that, the attacks on His Holiness and the church began, first, the spiritual leader of Azerbaijan accused the Apostolic Church of “inciting war”, then the RA government, led by Nikol Pashinyan, started the attacks, demanding the removal of the Catholicos.

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