We are facing the most dishonorable, unprecedented fact in the history of the Armenian people.

The administration’s planned targeting and persecution of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church crossed all red lines. As part of the illegally initiated criminal proceedings, legal proceedings have been initiated against His Holiness His Holiness the Patriarch of All Armenians H.S.O.T. Garegin II and a number of high-ranking clergymen.

For centuries, the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church has been and remains the unshakable pillar of the spiritual, national and cultural identity of the Armenian people, which has guided our people through the most difficult trials, preserved our Holy faith, national identity, language and centuries-old values.

The actions of the RA authorities against the authority of the Church and its spiritual mission are unconstitutional and anti-national. Thus, the constitutional principle of the separation of state-church relations is fundamentally undermined, the right to freedom of conscience and spiritual dignity of thousands of believers is violated, the public division deepens, the foundations of our identity are weakened, and state and public life are subjected to new shocks.

As faithful children of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, we condemn the illegal actions adopted by the authorities, we reaffirm our full support to the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church and His Holiness the Patriarch of All Armenians.

We call on the law-enforcement system to stay within the framework of the constitutionality and laws of the Republic of Armenia and not to give in to the coercion of political conspiracies. Matters related to the administration of dioceses and canon law and internal procedures in general are exclusively within the jurisdiction of the Church, and any interference is inadmissible.

We appeal to our compatriots, guided by national consciousness and principles of solidarity, to maintain national unity, to unite around the Holy Armenian Apostolic Church, its spiritual mission and His Holiness the Patriarch of All Armenians.

ARF Bureau
07.08.2026

—