‘Armenian Apostolic Church has no Catholicos’ – Pashinyan again accuses Karekin II of illegitimacy
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Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan once again accused Karekin II, the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church, of illegitimately holding office.
Speaking at a press conference, Pashinyan reiterated his claim that Karekin II breached his vow of celibacy and fathered a child in violation of church rules while he was still a bishop, thereby being illegitimately elected Catholicos.
“If Ktritch Nersisyan has a child,” the Prime Minister said, referring to Karekin II by his secular name, “and that child was born after he had taken a vow of celibacy, can he occupy the throne of the Catholicos of All Armenians? Why isn’t this question being raised in Armenia?”
“Ktritch Nersisyan is no Catholicos. The Armenian Apostolic Church has no Catholicos; there is only a person who is illegally holding that status,” Pashinyan said.
He also accused Archbishop Ezras Nersisyan — Karekin II’s younger brother and head of the Armenian Apostolic Church Diocese of Russia and New Nakhijevan — of being a Soviet-era KGB agent.
According to Pashinyan, “the published facts and documents make it obvious that Ezras Nersisyan was recruited by the KGB during Soviet times.”
Pashinyan has repeatedly called for the resignation of Catholicos Karekin II, accusing him of illegitimately holding office. The Church leadership, in turn, has accused the Prime Minister of conducting an “anti-church” campaign.
Pashinyan has described himself as a “devoted follower of the Armenian Apostolic Church” who is fighting against those who, he says, “have desecrated the Church’s sanctities.”