AAC sues clergyman, demands church keys 

ArmInfo. The Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) has filed two lawsuits against the defrocked Stepan Asatrayan (Father Aram), demanding that the court compel him to return the keys to the church in the village of Ovanavank in the  Ashtarak community of the Aragatsotn region, as well as the apartment  allocated to him. This was reported by the Datalex judicial  information system.

Specifically, in the first lawsuit, the AAC demands that the court  prohibit the defrocked priest from entering the following parts of  the Hovhannavank Church: the Holy Altar, the vault, and the  courthouse.  The court should also compel Stepan Artakovich Asatrayan  to return the keys to the Hovhannavank Church in the village of  Ovanavank in the Ashtarak community of the Aragatsotn region, which  is owned by the Armenian Apostolic Church.

In the second lawsuit, the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) demands  that Stepan Asatryan return the apartment (including the keys)  located at 54/3 Arshakunyats Avenue, Shengavit, Yerevan, which  belongs to the Armenian Apostolic Church, 18, by evicting Asatryan  and his family from the apartment.

The AAC also demands that Stepan Artak Asatryan pay legal costs,  including the amount of the state tax paid in advance to the Armenian  Apostolic Church.

Father Aram, the spiritual pastor of the Hovhannavank Church, was the  first to speak out against Catholicos Garegin II and join Prime  Minister Nikol Pashinyan's "church reform." Asatryan was deposed on  October 21 by decree of Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II for  discrediting the Armenian Apostolic Church.

In defense of the defrocked priest, on October 26 and November 2,  Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, members of the Cabinet, and the  ruling Civil Contract party attended the liturgy celebrated by the  defrocked Stepan Asatryan. Each time, a police presence was observed  in the village of Hovhannavank from early morning, and numerous  security personnel guarded the monastery grounds.

It should be noted that it was at the request of the deposed Stepan  Asatryan (formerly Father Aram) that the head of the Aragatsotn  Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Mkrtich Proshyan, and the  abbot of the Surb Gevorg Monastery in Mughni, Aragatsotn Province,  Father Garegin Arsenyan, were arrested.  Nevertheless, Stepan  Asatryan continues to remain in the church, conducting services and  religious rites.  The Aragatsotn Diocese periodically issues  statements declaring Asatryan's actions illegal.

As a reminder, several days ago, Bishop Gevorg Saroyan filed a  lawsuit against the Armenian Apostolic Church, challenging the  decision of Karekin II to remove him from his position as Primate of  the Masiatsotn Diocese. The court, presided over by Judge Edgar  Hovhannisyan, a member of the Supreme Judicial Council, granted  interim measures to protect the claim the day after it was accepted  for consideration, reinstating the bishop in his position pending a  final court decision.