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St. Gregory The
Illuminator
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The
origin of the Armenian Church dates back to the Apostolic age. According
to the ancient tradition well supported by historical evidence,
Christianity was preached in Armenia as early as the second half of the
first century by the two disciples of Jesus Christ, namely, St. Thaddeus
(John 14:22-24) and St. Bartholomew (John 1:43-51).
During the first three centuries Christianity in Armenia was a hidden
religion under heavy persecution.
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St. Narekatsi
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It was
at the beginning of the fourth century, 301 AD, that Christianity was
officially accepted by the Armenians as the state religion. St. Gregory
the Illuminator, the patron Saint of the Armenian Church, and King Thiridates III, the ruler of the time, played a pivotal role in the
official Christianization of Armenia. It is a well recognized historical
fact that the Armenians were the first nation to formally adhere to
Christianity. This conversion was followed in the fourth and fifth
centuries by a process of institutionalization and Armenization of
Christianity in Armenia.
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St.
Gregory the Illuminator became the organizer of the Armenian Church
hierarchy. From that time, the heads of the Armenian Church have been
called Catholicos and still hold the same title. St. Gregory chose as
the site of the Catholicosate then the capital city of Vagharshapat, in
Armenia. He built the pontifical residence next to the church called
"Holy Mother of God" (which in recent times would take on the name of
St. Etchmiadzin, meaning the place where the Only-Begotten Son has
descended), according to the vision in which he saw the Only-Begotten
Son of God coming down from heaven with a golden hammer in his hand to
locate the site of the new cathedral to be built in 302. The continuous
upheavals, which characterized the political scenes of Armenia, made the
political power move to safer places. The Church center moved as well to
different locations together with the political authority.
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Thus,
in 485, the Catholicosate was transferred to the new capital Dvin. In
the 10th century it moved from Dvin to Dzoravank and then to Aghtamar
(927), to Arghina (947) and to Ani (992). After the fall of Ani and the
Armenian Kingdom of Bagradits in 1045, masses of Armenians migrated to
Cilicia. The Catholicosate, together with the people, settled there. It
was first established in Thavblour (1062), then in Dzamendav (1072), in
Dzovk (1116), in Hromkla (1149), and finally in Sis (1293), the capital
of the Cilician Kingdom, where it remained for seven centuries. After
the fall of the Armenian Kingdom in Cilicia, in 1375, the Church also
assumed the role of national leadership, and the Catholicos was
recognized as Ethnarch (Head of Nation). This national responsibility
considerably broadened the scope of the Church's mission.
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The
existence of two Catholicosates within the Armenian Church, namely the
Catholicosate of Etchmiadzin (the Catholicosate of All Armenians),
Etchmiadzin-Armenia, and the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia,
Antelias-Lebanon, is due to historical circumstances. In the 10th
century, when Armenia was devastated by Seljuks, many Armenians left
their homeland and came to settle in Cilicia where they re-organized
their political, ecclesiastical and cultural life. The Catholicosate
also took refuge in Cilicia.
In 1375 the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia was destroyed. Cilicia became a
battleground for hostile Seljuks, Mamluks and other invaders. In the
meantime Armenia was having a relatively peaceful time. The
deteriorating situation in Cilicia on one hand and the growing cultural
and ecclesiastical awakening in Armenia on the other, led the bishops of
Armenia to elect a
Catholicos in
Etchmiadzin. The latter was the original seat of the Catholicosate, but
it had ceased to function as Catholicosal See after 485. Thus, in 1441,
a new Catholicos was elected in Etchmiadzin in the person of Kirakos
Virapetsi. At the same time Krikor Moussapegiants (1439-1446) was the
Catholicos of Cilicia. Therefore, since 1441, there have been two
Catholicosates in the Armenian Church with equal rights and privileges,
and with their respective jurisdictions. The primacy of honor of the
Catholicosate of Etchmiadzin has always been recognized by the
Catholicosate of Cilicia.
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