Catholicos Karekin II — the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church and spiritual leader of millions of Armenians around the world — went on trial on August 7, 2026, alongside six other church officials. The trial is taking place at a court in Vagharshapat, Armenia. The seven men are accused of ignoring a court order to give back a job to Bishop Gevorg Saroyan, who had been kicked out of the church in January. The church said Saroyan abused his power and neglected his duties. If found guilty, each person faces up to two years in prison. Al Jazeera

The trial is widely seen as the latest step in a bitter fight between Karekin II and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The conflict involves several things at once: church discipline, disputes over territory, and personal attacks that have blurred the line between church business and government power.

Bishop Saroyan supports Pashinyan. Both Saroyan and the prime minister have publicly called for Karekin II to step down. Karekin II, in turn, is a vocal critic of Pashinyan. The church leadership removed Saroyan from his position in January 2026. When a regular court then ordered the church to give Saroyan his role back and the church refused, the criminal case followed. Al Jazeera

The deeper roots of this fight go back to the 2023 Nagorno-Karabakh war. Nagorno-Karabakh is a territory that Armenians and Azerbaijanis have fought over for decades. In 2023, Azerbaijan took full control of it. For Armenians, losing this land was devastating. Karekin II blamed Pashinyan for the loss. The church has criticised the prime minister for giving up territory to neighbouring Azerbaijan, and has positioned itself as a voice of opposition to the government's approach. Al Jazeera

Pashinyan has gone further in his attacks. He accused Karekin II and the church of spying for Russia, though he did not provide evidence. He also accused the Catholicos of secretly fathering a child and breaking his vow of celibacy (a promise not to marry or have children), and demanded that he resign. Karekin II and the church deny the spying allegations. Al Jazeera

Opposition politicians, church leaders, and civil society groups have called the prosecution politically motivated — meaning they believe it is really about silencing critics, not about justice. Anna Melikyan, a lawyer at the Armenian group Protection of Rights Without Borders, said the case violated the church's constitutional independence and called it "a clear interference of the executive power in church affairs." Al Jazeera

The church has not stayed silent. Its leaders held a series of meetings from January through May 2026 at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the church's headquarters. The Supreme Spiritual Council met on January 27. The Clergy Assembly issued a statement on February 10. Bishops gathered from February 17 to 19 and issued a message from Karekin II. On May 26, the Clergy Assembly met again and released a statement during what it called "these days of trial." Armenian Apostolic Church Armenian Apostolic Church Armenian Apostolic Church

The timing of these meetings — after Saroyan's removal and after Pashinyan demanded Karekin II's resignation — suggests a coordinated institutional response rather than scattered reactions. Reuters

The broader context here is a shift in the balance between Armenia's church and its government that has few parallels in the post-Soviet world. The Armenian Apostolic Church is not just a place of worship — it is a pillar of Armenian national identity, blending spiritual, cultural, and historical roles that stretch back centuries before the modern state existed. That makes a clean separation between church and state very hard in practice. Pashinyan's decision to pile personal, spying, and celibacy accusations onto what is essentially a contempt-of-court case suggests he wants to weaken the Catholicos's moral authority before the legal process finishes. On the other side, Melikyan and civil society groups argue that the constitution protects the church's independence, and that the prosecution amounts to the government overstepping its bounds.

The outcome of the trial will matter beyond the fate of seven churchmen. A conviction would mean that civil courts can overrule the church's own internal decisions, effectively putting church governance under the judiciary. An acquittal or dismissal would protect the church's autonomy but would leave unresolved the deeper political fight between Pashinyan and Karekin II — a fight that has already drawn in bishops, opposition parties, and civil society groups. Either way, the proceedings in Vagharshapat will test the boundary between two institutions that have shaped Armenian life together for centuries.