Catholicos of all Armenians and head of office of pioneers of  Echmiadzin violated vow of celibacy - premier 

ArmInfo. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan believes that Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II and the head of the chancery of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin,  Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan are not only unworthy of giving any  instructions to married priests, but even of standing next to them.

<Ktrich Nersisyan (the secular name of Catholicos of All Armenians  Garegin II) and Samvel Khachatryan (referring to Archbishop Arshak  Khachatryan), who broke their vows and signed covenants in front of  the altar of the Main Cathedral, cannot have any superiority over  married priests of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, who are honest  before God and their flock and virtuous in their service.

K. Nersisyan and S. Khachatryan are not only unworthy of giving  married priests any instructions, but even of standing next to them,"  he wrote.

The day before, Pashinyan stated that for a long time he did not  believe rumors, gossip, <but now, when he knows it for sure and  clearly, keeping silent about it would be sacrilege, aiding those who  undermine the foundations of our Church>. <Those who violated the vow  of piety, in this case Ktrich Nersisyan and Samvel Khachatryan, in  factually proven cases have no right to touch the shrines of the  Armenian Apostolic Holy Church with their unclean hands and must  leave the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin>, - the Armenian Prime  Minister noted.

Since May 29, when at a government meeting Pashinyan compared  Armenian churches to closets, and his wife Anna Hakobyan called the  clergy the main pedophiles of the country, the head of the Armenian  Cabinet has been raising the issue of celibacy of the AAC ministers.  He claims that he has evidence of the violation of the vow of  celibacy by a number of clergymen, in particular the Catholicos of  All Armenians Garegin II, who, in his opinion, should resign. He  promises to provide evidence if the latter decide to challenge his  accusations in court. For now, he has decided to create a special  coordination group to remove the Catholicos, and every morning he  begins with a demand to free the Patriarchate. And he does this,  according to him, solely out of a desire to cleanse <a place sacred  to him from sacrilege>.

Meanwhile, many associate the campaign against the AAC with the  desire to fulfill certain preconditions set before him by Ankara  before his visit to Turkey. It is also noted that Pashinyan is  promoting Azerbaijan's narrative against the Armenian Church.

Meanwhile, the day before, the head of the Tashir group of companies,  philanthropist and businessman Samvel Karapetyan was arrested for  "public calls to seize power", simply for publicly standing up for  the Armenian Church. The Prime Minister also announced the start of  the process of nationalizing the Electric Networks of Armenia CJSC  (part of Tashir).