The second liturgy was served by the declared deposed Ter Aram
Today, Stepan Asatryan (formerly Father Ter Aram) again served the Divine Liturgy in the Hovhannavank Church, which was attended by the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan. In addition to the Prime Minister, several other officials were also present at the ceremony: Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan, Minister of Justice Srbouhi Galyan, and NA President Alen Simonyan. The governors of Tavush, Armavir, Aragatsotn, Ararat, and Lori provinces were also in the church. Police groups were again concentrated in the vicinity of Hovhannavank.
The former priest, declared deposed by the Mother See, had also invited the faithful to participate in the liturgy served by him last Sunday. Those present at Hovhannavank on October 26 included Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan, Artsrun Hovhannisyan, Member of Parliament Emma Palyan, as well as the governors of Tavush and Aragatsotn provinces, together with the mayor of Dilijan community.
It should be recalled that on October 30, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin issued a statement noting that the actions carried out in Hovhannavank under the patronage of the authorities are a “desecration” and have no spiritual value. The Mother See also announced that the Hovhannavank Church is subject to re-consecration.
Asatryan was declared deposed on October 21 by the order of Catholicos Garegin II. According to the clarifications of the Mother See, the grounds for the deposition were the priest’s defamatory remarks against the Armenian Church, the Diocesan Primate, and the clergy in public speeches, the arbitrary omission of the section mentioning the names of the Catholicos of All Armenians and others during the liturgies, and the failure to comply with the demand to appear at the committee meetings.