Prime Minister of Armenia accused the Catholicos of the Armenian Church of allegedly violating the vow of celibacy

The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, called for the removal of the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Karekin II, following accusations of allegedly violating his vow of celibacy. In his Facebook post, Pashinyan stated that Karekin II has a child, despite voluntarily taking the vow of celibacy, which, in his view, is a violation of church canons. This was reported by the Armenian online platform CivilNet.am.

«This is a fact, and if Karekin tries to deny it, I will prove it in the necessary format,» Pashinyan said.

He also expressed the opinion that in order to restore trust in the church, a new leader should be elected, «whose behavior and personal life will be thoroughly checked».

This statement by Pashinyan came after a meeting of the Supreme Spiritual Council of the Armenian Apostolic Church, held on June 2, 2025, under the chairmanship of Catholicos Karekin II, during which sharp criticism of the Prime Minister was voiced. The clergy accused the head of government of «discrediting the Church and the clergy.» Particular outrage was caused by recent statements by Pashinyan, who compared Armenian churches to «closets filled with junk» and called for standards to evaluate the condition of church buildings.