Fr. Tade Takhmazyan Deposed from the Priesthood
03.12.2025
On 2 December, by the Patriarchal directive of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, Fr. Tade Takhmazyan, spiritual pastor of the Talin region, was officially deposed from the priesthood.
The directive was based on the report of the Administrative Council of the Aragatsotn Diocese and the conclusion of the Commission on Awards and Disciplinary Matters of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, on the following grounds:
a) He discredited the Armenian Apostolic Church and the clergy, in particular, by disseminating a public defamatory statement;
b) He committed anti-ecclesiastical acts by participating in the sinful actions of a person previously declared deposed from holy orders;
c) During the celebration of the Holy and Immortal Liturgy, he deliberately failed to proclaim the names of the Catholicos of All Armenians and the ruling diocesan primate, thereby effectively denying the hierarchical order, placing himself outside the Church, and essentially aligning himself with a schismatic movement;
d) He demonstrated disobedience toward ecclesiastical authority.
Henceforth, the deposed priest shall be recorded among the laity under his baptismal name, Aramayis Takhmazyan.
