When Darkness Has Seized Ecclesiastical Authority: Arpi Davoyan

When darkness has seized ecclesiastical authority. This was stated by Arpi Davoyan, a member of the National Assembly from the Civil Contract party.

“The church, which should have been the center of spreading spiritual light, today trapped in shadows, suffers in the claws of the vile instruments of obscurantist sin. Those who vowed to live as clerics, guiding believers with the purity of their souls and bodies, have become the very antithesis of the morality they preached. Today’s circulating stories about them are no longer within the realm of personal sin; it is a public wound that has struck at the heart of the church and shattered trust in the hierarchal structure.

Clerics named Arshak and Garegin, who pledged to serve God and the church while renouncing bodily desires, are now facing serious accusations; the moral annihilation of these individuals is recorded, the game is over. Everything points to a behavior that not only contradicts ecclesiastical canon but undermines everything upon which public perception of faith relies.

And what are those in high positions at the Mother See doing instead of offering resignations, humbling themselves, and repenting to free the Armenian Church from their disgusting presence? They mock, belittle, and speak with a sarcastic smile, exhibiting boorishness and arrogance. As if they are the standard of morality, rather than the violators of it.

This is no longer the downfall of one person. This is a crack in the system from which the deception, concealed for years under the veneer, the pillars, the crowns, the shiny scepters, and the disdain, flows out. When intrigue, a thirst for power, and unabashed lust prevail within the church walls, God’s house turns into a dark stage where faith is assaulted, mocked, and falsified with sinister scenes. And the faithful, searching for a spiritual leader, find a self-satisfied official who rejects responsibility and accountability.

Here, forgiveness is a sin. Here, silence is treachery. When a spiritual leader stands before the public not as a guilty man, but as a shameless denier, our only response must be a call for resignation. Not as punishment, but as the sole means of purification. The church is not cleansed through prayer if the sinner does not confess, if the root and encourager of sin and evil is not removed.

The church is cleansed through truth and justice. Therefore, this is a call not only to K’tirich Nersisyan but to the entire ecclesiastical system: either you cleanse your ranks, or the people will take your scepters and write your verdict in the pages of history.

It is time for resignation. It is time for accountability. Not to discredit the church, but to save it.”