​Seventeen centuries of history behind the political-religious crisis in Yerevan

Katholikos Karekin II's opposition to Prime Minister Pašinyan's policy on agreements with Azerbaijan is only the latest chapter in a ‘rivalry’ that has its roots in the very origins of what was the world's first Christian state. And Karabakh, which the Church does not want to cede definitively, was a symbol of the defence of its identity during the years of Soviet domination.

Yerevan (AsiaNews) - The situation in Armenia, on the cusp of possible peace with Azerbaijan and alliances with other countries in the region (including Turkey and Iran), is difficult to understand for those unfamiliar with the country's internal contradictions.

Prime Minister Nikol Pašinyan, a proponent of a policy of openness and compromise between East and West, has a rather low level of support, but his political opponents, including several former presidents, are even less popular with the Armenian public.

The only real alternative to the country's entire political system seems to be the Apostolic Church, led by Patriarch-Katholikos Karekin II, flanked by Russian-Armenian oligarch Samvel Karapetyan, defender of the Church itself and of Moscow's interests, in a sort of new competition between throne and altar.

Armenian historian and theologian Vladimir Petunts, who teaches Armenian culture at the University of Yerevan, commented on these events in Novaya Gazeta, presenting himself as a “faithful son of the Apostolic Church”, without feeling affiliated with the structures that have proclaimed a “holy war” against the government.

What is surprising is the great religiosity of the Armenians, who rely on the Church more than on political structures, and Petunts recalls that ‘there is a huge Armenian diaspora in many countries around the world, with different attitudes towards the Church and religion, but for all of them the Apostolic Church remains the symbol of Armenian identity’. Armenia is in fact the first Christian state in history, having proclaimed the Church of State a few decades before Emperor Constantine himself.

Before the advent of the Bolsheviks, Armenian history was divided into two major periods: until the 14th century, with its own independent state, and then until 1918, when it was subjugated to the Ottomans and other rulers.

At first, the first patriarchs were chosen exclusively from among the direct descendants of the baptiser of the Armenians, Gregory the Illuminator, until the fourth successor, Katholikos Iiusik, who was beaten to death for criticising the king, transferring the patriarchal title to a member of another lineage.

Later, King Arshak II re-established the original ecclesiastical dynasty with Katholikos Nerses I, a friend and squire of the monarch. The alternation and conflicts between state and church continued over the centuries for various reasons, including the defence or cession of territories to neighbouring empires, from the Byzantine to the Russian, as has happened in recent years with Nagorno-Karabakh.

The patriarch was often imposed by the king on the local council of bishops, until Armenia fell under Ottoman rule and, in part, under Persian rule. At the beginning of the 18th century, Prince David-bek's revolt allowed the Armenians to regain part of their territories, including those now disputed with Azerbaijan, Karabakh and Nakhchivan.

For a few years, the Armenians remained free from Persian oppression, with two different opposing katholikos: that of Echmiadzin, the main seat on the outskirts of Yerevan, Patriarch Astvatsatur, who was opposed to the revolt, while that of Gandzasar in Karabakh, Esaj, had blessed David-bek's troops. In any case, the Armenians had to seek compromises with all their powerful neighbours, Turks, Iranians and Russians, often relying on ecclesiastical figures for mediation.

The Russian Empire was nevertheless wary of the Armenian Church, which in 1836 was given the title “Armenian Gregorian Church” by Tsar Nicholas I, excluding the term “Apostolic”, which overshadowed Orthodoxy, from which the Armenians had separated at the time of the Council of Chalcedon in 451.

Even under the Soviets, the Armenians remained the least “Russified” socialist republic, defending their identity thanks to the Church, which refused to submit to atheist propaganda.

The Armenians have always preserved three dimensions of their devotion: churches, most of which were closed and destroyed by the Soviets; matury, small chapels scattered even in the mountains; and above all kačkary, stone steles with the image of a cross, which were erected where even tractors could not reach to knock them down. One of the places where these signs of religious and national tradition were best preserved was Artsakh, the Armenian name for Karabakh, which the Church today is not willing to give up definitively, despite military defeats, and for this reason a new conflict with the civil authorities has arisen. Prime Minister Pašinyan keeps repeating that “we must build a new Armenia, not dream of the past”, but the patriarchs, bishops and faithful of the Apostolic Church do not want to “abandon their origins”.