Pashinyan Renews Attack Against the Church and Catholicos Karekin II

By Horizon Staff Writer

In a renewed escalation of his campaign against the Armenian Apostolic Church, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan declared during a November 6 press conference that the Church “has no Catholicos,” accusing Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II of “illegitimately” occupying his position, an assertion widely condemned as false and politically motivated

“If Ktrich Nersisyan (Karekin II) has a son born after his vow of celibacy, can he occupy the throne of the Catholicos of All Armenians? Why is this question not being raised in Armenia? Ktrich Nersisyan is not the patriarch. The Armenian Apostolic Church has no patriarch; there is a person who holds that position illegally,” Pashinyan declared, in what many observers described as an open attempt to undermine the Church’s spiritual authority.

The prime minister again targeted Archbishop Ezras Nersisyan, primate of the Armenian Diocese of Russia, claiming — without credible evidence — that he had been recruited by the Soviet KGB.

On June 10, 2025, Pashinyan unilaterally announced the creation of a “coordinating council” to organize new elections in the Catholicosate, a move denounced by Church representatives and legal experts as unconstitutional interference in the Church’s internal governance. Over the past year, Pashinyan has repeatedly accused senior clergy, including Karekin II, of violating vows of celibacy, a rhetoric critics say is intended to discredit the Church and divert attention from domestic political crises.

The campaign has been accompanied by a wave of arrests targeting clergy and Church-affiliated figures. In early November, Pashinyan’s security forces detained Karekin II’s brother, Gevorg Nersisyan, and his nephew, Hambardzum Nersisyan, on what Church sources called fabricated charges. Earlier, several bishops, including Archbishops Bagrat Galstanyan, Mkrtich Proshyan, and Mikayel Ajapahyan, were imprisoned following rushed, irregular trials. Meanwhile, a defrocked priest continues to hold liturgies at Hovhannavank Monastery with the prime minister’s public support and police protection.

Following a Church-organized conference in Switzerland on the destruction of Armenian heritage in Artsakh, Pashinyan intensified his attacks, even suggesting that the state should oversee future elections of the Catholicos. His government-aligned media outlets have since launched smear campaigns seeking to isolate the Church from the Armenian public.

The widening crackdown has also extended to opposition parties and prominent critics of the regime, including philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, who was arrested and prosecuted on politically motivated charges, in what analysts describe as a broader effort by Pashinyan to suppress dissent and consolidate control.