Defrocked priest refuses to leave his place of service: tensions rise  at Hovhannavank Monastery

ArmInfo. Tensions have arisen at Hovhannavank Monastery after defrocked cleric Stepan Asatryan was prevented from performing a wedding ceremony. The  groom's father, upon learning that Asatryan, who was initially set to perform the ceremony, had been defrocked, requested that another  cleric, Father Sargis, perform the ceremony.

Furthermore, a delegation from the Disciplinary Commission of the  Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin arrived at the monastery and  reiterated Asatryan's defrocking, reminding him that a defrocked  cleric cannot perform weddings and cannot be present in places where  priests are required to be present. These comments from the clergy  infuriated Asatryan, who began shouting that he could not be  defrocked because he is serving the God. "I have heard everything,  but I do not accept this obligation. I am still a priest," Asatryan  noted.

Enraged, Asatryan also began repeating Prime Minister Nikol  Pashinyan's statements that "a defrocked Catholicos cannot defrock  him, and that a Catholicos cannot have a family life and  children."

It is worth noting that a significant police force was deployed to  the monastery. Furthermore, a group of individuals consistently  accompanied Asatryan on the monastery premises and displayed  aggressive behavior, including toward journalists. The police took no  action to restrain these individuals.

In a conversation with journalists, the defrocked priest stated that  he does not intend to leave the church and will continue his  ministry. He also cited the presence of numerous priests in the AAC  who should have been defrocked instead of him, yet they were allowed  to continue serving, as another reason for his decision. Asatryan  also warned the clergy that if they spoke out against him again, he  would disclose numerous facts that he was aware of. However, he did  not specify what these facts were.