The Spiritual Center of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin has reported that the ecclesiastical and administrative service of the leader of the protests in Armenia, Bagrat Galstanyan, has been temporarily suspended, but his episcopal ministry has been preserved.
The episcopal rank of Lord Bagrat was preserved, but his ecclesiastical and administrative service was temporarily suspended, Echmiadzin explained.
It is noted that Galstyan himself appealed to the Catholicos (Primate) of the AAC with a request to suspend his spiritual ministry, explaining it by his participation in the protests and commitments to the “Tavush in the Name of Motherland” movement.
The protests in Yerevan began on May 9, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and an end to the delimitation of the border with Azerbaijan, as a result of which some border territories were to be transferred to Baku's control. The demonstrations were organized by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, head of the Tavush diocese of the AAC.
Today Galstanyan called his supporters to mass acts of disobedience. As part of the protests, a procession was held and a street in Yerevan and the road from the capital to Ashtarak were blocked. The day before, at a rally organized by the bishop, he was called upon to be nominated as a candidate for the post of Prime Minister of Armenia.