Karekin II

His Holiness Catholicos Karekin II
Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians
Karekin II in 2012
Native name	Գարեգին Բ
Church	Armenian Apostolic Church
See	Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin
Appointed	1999
Predecessor	Karekin I
Personal details
Birth name	Ktrij Nersessian
Born	(1951-08-21) 21 August 1951 (age 65) Voskehat, Armenia
Denomination	Armenian Apostolic
Education	University of Vienna
Coat of arms

Catholicos Karekin II (Armenian: Գարեգին Բ) (born August 21, 1951) is the current Catholicos of All Armenians, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. In 2013 he was unanimously elected the head of the World Council of Churches for the next eight years.

Karekin II was born as Ktrij Nersessian in Voskehat, Armenia, on August 21, 1951. He entered the Gevorkian Theological Seminary at Echmiadzin in 1965 and graduated with honors 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 October 23, 1983, he was consecrated bishop at Echmiadzin. He became an archbishop in 1992.

Karekin II speaks fluent German from his time in Germany and Austria. In 1975 during his time in Cologne he was the spiritual representative of nine Armenian congregations in Germany.

In 1988 Karekin 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.