Why the Lance of Longinus is at the centre of a national controversy
The Armenian Apostolic Church, part of Oriental Orthodoxy, was the world’s first state church, established in AD 301. And it’s in crisis. For two months protesters have been calling for the resignation of its patriarch, Catholicos Karekin II. A sit-in protest in the diocesan headquarters was broken up by police. Scuffles have erupted between clergy.
The claims against the patriarch are colourful. Critics accuse him of fathering two children, of being involved in shady business deals and of selling diocesan-owned treasures: in particular, a piece of the relic of Longinus, which tradition holds was the spear that pierced Jesus’s side. Last week the diocese, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, put the relic on display to answer the claim.
