Garegin II
Garegin II 
| |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Ktrij Nersessian |
| Birthplace | Voskehat |
| Birth date | 21 August 1951 |
| Lived in | Voskehat, Ejmiatsin, Cologne, Vienna, Bonn, Zagorsk |
| Resides in | Ejmiatsin |
| Religion | Armenian Apostolic |
| Languages | Armenian, Russian, German |
| Dialects | Eastern Armenian |
Catholicos Garegin II (Armenian: Գարեգին Բ, also spelled Karekin; born 21 August 1951) is the Catholicos of All Armenians, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, since 1999. In 2013 he was unanimously elected the Oriental Orthodox head of the World Council of Churches for the next eight years.
Early biography
Garegin II was born as Ktrij Nersessian in Voskehat, Armenia, on 21 August 1951. He entered the Gevorkian Theological Seminary at Echmiadzin in 1965 and graduated with honours in 1971. He was ordained to the diaconate in 1970. Later he became a monk and was ordained a priest in 1972. In the late 1970s the Catholicos of that period encouraged him to study outside of Armenia. This led to him continuing his studies in Vienna, Bonn University, and Zagorsk, Russia. On 23 October 1983, he was consecrated bishop at Echmiadzin. He became an archbishop in 1992.
Garegin II speaks fluent German from his time in Germany and Austria.[1] In 1975 during his time in Cologne he was the spiritual representative of nine Armenian congregations in Germany.[1]
In 1988 Garegin took an active role in helping his people overcome the Armenian earthquake. He oversaw the construction of a number of churches and schools in Armenia. He also showed an interest in using modern technology and telecommunications to help the life of his churches as well as dealing with the legacies of the Soviet era.
Election and consecration
Garegin Nersesian was elected by representatives of the church's 456 dioceses worldwide on Oct. 27, the day nationalist gunmen burst into the Armenian parliament and killed Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, parliamentary speaker Karen Demirchian and six other politicians.
The Armenian Apostolic Church enthroned its new spiritual leader, Catholicos Garegin II, on Nov. 11, 1999 at a solemn ceremony attended by the country's top leadership.
Twelve archbishops conducted the ceremony in the Cathedral in Echmiadzin, the historic center of the Armenian Apostolic Church about 20 miles northwest of the capital, Yerevan.
The country's new prime minister, Aram Sarkisian - who was appointed to succeed his slain brother - attended Garegin's inauguration along with President Robert Kocharian. Thousands of people came to the cathedral to watch the ceremony, which was nationally televised.
Catholicos
In October 2007, he began a second visit to the United States.[2] On 10 October 2007, he offered the opening prayer for the day's session of the United States House of Representatives.
His ecumenical trip to India to meet Baselios Thoma Didymos I, Catholicos of the East in November 2008, helped strengthen relations between the Armenian and Indian Orthodox Churches.
The delegates to the 10th General Assembly of the World Council of Churches that took place in Busan, South Korea, on 4 November, unanimously elected Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, the supreme patriarch and head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, head of the organisation for the next eight years.
On 26 June 2016, Catholicos Garegin and Pope Francis signed a joint declaration on the family. It stated that the secularisation of society and its "alienation from the spiritual and divine" are damaging to the family, and affirmed that the Catholic and Armenian Apostolic churches share a marriage–based view of the family. The declaration also took note of various positive steps taken towards unity between the two leaders' churches, and "acknowledged the successful 'new phase' in relations" between them. It also lamented "immense tragedy" of the widespread persecution of Christians in the Middle East; the Pope and the Catholicos prayed "for a change of heart in all those who commit such crimes and those who are in a position to stop the violence".[3]
On 9 June 2025, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan alleged in a Facebook post that Garegin II had broken his vow of celibacy and had a child and must step down if unable to disprove the allegation. In the preceding days, Pashinyan had made several attacks on social media against senior clergymen, likewise accusing them of breaking their vows of celibacy.[4] On June 10, Pashinyan announced the creation of a "coordinating council" to organize Garegin's removal and the election of a new catholicos.[5] Garegin stated on June 11 that questions regarding the church and the clergy should be discussed by the appropriate bodies and called on people not to allow any actions that would threaten national unity.[6] On July 8 Pashinyan called him anti-Christ and dog-eater.[7]
Awards
- Order of the Star of Romania (Romania, 2000)
- Order of Bethlehem (Palestine, 2000)
- Legion of Honour (France, 2001)[8]
- Order of Friendship (Russia, 2006)[9]
- Order of the Star of Romania
- Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (Ukraine, 2001)[10]
- Order of St. Thomas (India, 2008)[11]
- Order of St. Mesrop Mashtots (Armenia, 2009)
- Order of Honour (Russia, 2022)
- Honorary member of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences
References
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karekin_II - Creative Commons source of much of this article
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Von Voss, Huberta (June 2007). Portraits of Hope: Armenians in the Contemporary World. Berghahn Books. pp. 123. ISBN 9781845452575. https://books.google.com/books?id=r3vbswx_1TEC&q=Karekin+II&pg=PA123.
- ↑ Schworm, Peter (2007-10-08). "Armenian church leader brings touch of grace: Karekin II urges N.E. to protect faith, identity". http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/10/08/armenian_church_leader_brings_touch_of_grace/.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Muradyan, Elen (10 June 2025). "Pashinyan launches ‘coordinating council’ to oust Catholicos". https://www.civilnet.am/en/news/955764/pashinyan-launches-coordinating-council-to-oust-catholicos/. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ https://t.me/ejdailyru/338019 Template:Bare URL inline
- ↑ Армянский католикос получил орден Почётного легиона
- ↑ "Путин наградил Католикоса всех армян Гарегина II орденом Дружбы". http://www.armenia-online.ru/armnews/26.html. Retrieved 2016-06-25.
- ↑ "Гарегин II получил украинский орден Ярослава Мудрого". http://www.religio.ru/arch/30Oct2001/news/2430_print.html. Retrieved 2016-06-25.
- ↑ "Order Of St. Thomas". 16 September 2018. https://notknowingyourhistoryisnotknowingyourself.wordpress.com/2018/09/16/order-of-st-thomas/.