Bulgaria’s Armenian Community Doesn’t Want Priest Who Lives with His Girlfriend

Father Sarkis Hovhannisian, the pastor of the Armenian Apostolic Church serving the Armenian community in the Bulgarian city of Varna, who was assaulted at a night club last summer, is in “excellent health,” said members of Bulgaria’s Armenian community, speaking to Epress.am

Recall, speaking to Epress.am yesterday, His Holiness Karekin II press spokesperson Fr. Vahram said the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin had invited Fr. Sarkis for a “talk”; however, the latter had not presented himself since he was healing from injuries he sustained from the assault.

According to the Bulgarian-Armenians Epress.am spoke to, “The Mother See’s information does not correspond to the truth or the priest in question is simply lying to His Holiness.”

There’s also been talk of Fr. Sarkis living with his girlfriend following his divorce, and Bulgaria’s Armenian community doesn’t want the pastor to preach to them.

Note on Jul. 31, Fr. Sarkis was attacked in the well-known nightclub Arrogance at the Golden Sands resort in Varna. On his way to the washroom, a few people attacked him with blows to the head, which resulted in an injury in Fr. Sarkis’ right eye. He was admitted at a local hospital for emergency surgery; for a long time, there was the threat of permanent blindness in that eye.

Fr. Sarkis apparently had told a police officer he had gone to the night club with his friend visiting from Russia, where they had simply “drank two [glasses of] 50 [grams] of whiskey.”

Rumors floating among the Armenian-Bulgarian community also note that the pastor is involved in the drug trade.

Fr. Vahram told Epress.am that Etchmiadzin “will keep an eye [on the situation], and after the talk and examining the case, we will be able to make a decision,” he said.