Overview

• After a priest implied he was not a true Christian, Pashinyan offered on Facebook to expose himself to Church leader Karekin II to prove he is uncircumcised.
• Father Zareh Ashuryan accused the prime minister of replacing his Christian baptismal seal with the sign of circumcision and called for the Church to purge “false believers.”
• Pashinyan also alleged that Karekin II broke his vow of celibacy by fathering a child and publicly challenged the cleric to respond.
• In his June 25 post, the prime minister claimed law enforcement thwarted a “criminal oligarchic clergy” plot to destabilize the republic.
• The clash underscores a broader power struggle since late May between Pashinyan and the Armenian Apostolic Church over religious hypocrisy and institutional influence.