The battle is declared between the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pachinian, and the head of the influential apostolic Church of this Caucasus country. In an unprecedented gesture, the head of government called on the faithful, Tuesday, June 10, to overthrow the highest religious dignitary, Karékine II. He himself called for the resignation of Nikol Pachinian after the defeat of Armenia against Azerbaijan during the war in Haut-Karabakh, in 2020. “As one of yours, I call you”wrote the head of government on Telegram, urging the faithful to ” release “ The Armenian Apostolic Church and to elect a new chief. He also suggests that the government can play a major role in the selection of future leaders of the Church.
Ten days earlier, Nikol Pachinian had already launched an explosive accusation against the religious dignitary by suggesting that he had a child. “If it turns out that Karékine II has violated the vow of monastic celibacy and that he has a child, he cannot be Catholicos [titre équivalent à celui de patriarche] of all Armenians ”wrote Mr. Pachinian, calling for the Holy See of Etchmiadzine (the equivalent of the Vatican for the Armenian Apostolic Church, near Yerevan) in “Take a stand on this situation”. The wife of the head of government, Anna Akopian, has herself led to the apostolic Church in recent days by accusing him of being a hideout of “Pedophiles”.
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Source: Lemonde