A bishop in Armenia's Apostolic Church and 12 clergymen have been arrested as part of a widening rift between church leaders and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's government, the Christian Post website reports today (Oct. 19, 2025).
The arrests are the latest in a string of detentions targeting clergy critical of the administration.
Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan of the Diocese of Aragatsotn was charged with coercing citizens to participate in public gatherings , obstructing electoral rights, and misusing his office to commit large--scale theft, Armenia's Investigative Committee claimed this week, according to the Associated Press.
Authorities began investigating Proshyan in September, after a fellow clergyman accused church officials of pressuring members to attend anti--government demonstrations in 2021 and alleged corruption in Proshyan's diocese. Twelve other clergymen were detained from the same diocese.
The ArmenianApostolic Church denounced the arrests, calling them part of a "systematic campaign" to interfere with its operations. "There is obvious malicious intent to hinder the normal activities of the church," it said in a post on social media.
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