Armenia: the country that carries the cross

Abstract Religion’s influence on politics becomes more powerful on every continent and across every major world religion. Many religious actors possess a vigorous belief that they should use their capacity to influence politics and public life. The tendency of some governments to alienate and repress religious actors is a recurrent theme in world politics. Nevertheless, the more governments try to repress and exclude religion from public life, the larger role religious actors play in domestic politics. This argument is illustrated by the actions of Armenia’s current government, which have led to the conflict with the Armenian Apostolic Church, and generated out of empirical observations based on the government attacking the Church since the change of power in Armenia in 2018. The Armenian Apostolic Church has played a central role in the national and political life of Armenians since the fourth century, when Armenia adopted Christianity as a state religion. While Armenia is a secular state, the ongoing antagonism between the Armenian Church and government authorities stiffens the Church’s will to resist and elevates its moral authority.