Latest news with #ofAllArmenians
New York Post
25-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Armenian prime minister offers to show penis to Orthodox church honcho to prove bizarre point
A bit snippy! The prime minister of Armenia offered to show off his penis to the supreme leader of the nation's Orthodox Church to prove to a disapproving priest that he was uncircumcised. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made the cocky proposition in response to Father Zareh Ashuryan — the spokesperson for Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians — making inflammatory implications that the government official was not Christian. 3 Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan offered to prove that he was circumcised to the Catholicos of the nation's church. via REUTERS 'I believe that our Apostolic Holy Church must immediately cleanse itself of those false 'believers' who are traitors to the nation, have dishonoured the memory of their ancestors, broken the vow of baptism, and replaced the seal of the Holy Cross with the sign of circumcision,' Father Ashuryan said, Metro reported. Pashinyan responded to the finger-wagging priest with a snippy post on Facebook, offering to wag something of his own in the face of the Catholicos of the Armenian Church. 'Ktrich Nersisyan's spokesman said in the square that I was dumbfounded,' the prime minister wrote on Facebook, referring to the high ranking cleric by his given name. 'I am ready to accept Ktrich Nersisyan and his spokesman and prove otherwise,' Pashinyan said in reference to circumcision, the noodle-trimming religious practice of Christians and Jews. Pashinyan then reiterated recently made bombastic claims that set off the ugly, public authority measuring contest. 'And let him finally answer the question, did he break the covenant of partisanship or not? Does he have a child or not?' Pashinyan wrote. 3 Facebook/Nikol Pashinyan The Armenian PM has previously accused Karekin II of having a child and breaking his priestly vows — and has called for the Catholics to resign his pole position in the church. 'Karekin II has violated the vow of celibacy he took voluntarily and has a child. This is a fact, and if Karekin II attempts to deny it, I will prove it in the appropriate format,' Pashinyan said earlier this month, according to the Massis Post. 'According to the Constitution of the Armenian Apostolic Church, karekin II could not have been a bishop, archbishop, or elected Catholicos — and cannot currently serve in that role,' Pashinyan claimed. 3 Nikol Pashinyan and Vladimir Putin shaking hands. AP The Armenian PM could be taking a page out of President Trump's tough-talking playbook. Trump made headlines on Monday when he dropped a well-emphasized f-bomb while commenting to reporters on the Israel-Iran conflict during a gaggle outside the White House. 'We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the f–k they're doing, do you understand,' the president said to reporters. That remark caught the attention of NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who, on Wednesday, made his own eyebrow-raising comment saying, 'Daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get it stopped.'
Time of India
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Armenian PM pushes to unseat influential church head
Prime Minister Pashinyan and Catholicos Garegin II locked in a serious disagreement at the Mother See. The atmosphere is palpably tense. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Tuesday urged followers of the influential Armenian Apostolic Church to help unseat its spiritual leader, Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II. Relations between Pashinyan and the church leadership have sharply deteriorated in recent years. Garegin II repeatedly called for Pashinyan's resignation following Armenia's disastrous military defeats to arch-foe Azerbaijan over the then-disputed Karabakh region. The loss of Karabakh after Azerbaijan's lightning offensive in 2023 has divided Armenia, as its neighbour demands sweeping concessions in exchange for lasting peace. Last year, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan led mass protests accusing Pashinyan of ceding territory to Azerbaijan -- a movement that ultimately failed to topple the prime minister. Now Pashinyan has launched an unprecedented challenge to Garegin II, urging believers on social media to form a "coordination group" to organise the "liberation" of the church and elect a new Catholicos. "We need to create a coordination group to handle the organisational aspects of this agenda," Pashinyan said on Telegram, specifying that members should be clergy and lay followers. Pashinyan and his wife in late May alleged that the Catholicos has a child which prompted fierce opposition criticism and calls for the couple's excommunication. Armenia -- the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion in the 4th century -- grants the Armenian Apostolic Church special constitutional status and the church wields considerable influence in Armenian society.
The Sun
10-06-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Armenian PM pushes to unseat influential church head
YEREVAN: Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Tuesday urged followers of the influential Armenian Apostolic Church to help unseat its spiritual leader, Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II. Relations between Pashinyan and the church leadership have sharply deteriorated in recent years. Garegin II repeatedly called for Pashinyan's resignation following Armenia's disastrous military defeats to arch-foe Azerbaijan over the then-disputed Karabakh region. The loss of Karabakh after Azerbaijan's lightning offensive in 2023 has divided Armenia, as its neighbour demands sweeping concessions in exchange for lasting peace. Last year, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan led mass protests accusing Pashinyan of ceding territory to Azerbaijan -- a movement that ultimately failed to topple the prime minister. Now Pashinyan has launched an unprecedented challenge to Garegin II, urging believers on social media to form a 'coordination group' to organise the 'liberation' of the church and elect a new Catholicos. 'We need to create a coordination group to handle the organisational aspects of this agenda,' Pashinyan said on Telegram, specifying that members should be clergy and lay followers. Pashinyan and his wife in late May alleged that the Catholicos has a child which prompted fierce opposition criticism and calls for the couple's excommunication. Armenia -- the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion in the 4th century -- grants the Armenian Apostolic Church special constitutional status and the church wields considerable influence in Armenian society.
