A bishops’ assembly has convened Tuesday at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

It is highly likely that the issue of Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan, the chancellor of Holy Etchmiadzin, will also become a subject of review at the assembly.

Haykakan Zhamanak daily, owned by PM Nikol Pashinyan’s family, had written: “A photograph is circulating online showing a petition addressed to Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians. The petition was signed by seven bishops. In the letter, they propose that the Patriarch temporarily suspend Archbishop Arshak from all positions he holds, and that he live outside the Mother See, in another place determined by the Catholicos. (...) indecent videos linked to Archbishop Arshak had disseminated online. The RA [i.e. the Republic of Armenia] Investigative Committee has initiated proceedings regarding the dissemination of the videos.”

Archbishop Arshak had responded to the videos in circulation, stating: “I wish to note that even by exerting every possible effort, I simply cannot, with a serious face, engage in refuting fabrications and slanders. I consider it reasonable to ignore [them]. Therefore, I publicly ‘refer’ my contempt and sneer to the interested parties.”

Criminal proceedings have been initiated based on a report concerning the recordings attributed to Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan.