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The Origin of the Armenian Church:

The origin of the Armenian Church dates back to the Apostolic age. According to the ancient tradition, which is 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, Saint Thaddeus (John 14:22-24) and Saint Bartholomew (John 1:43-51).

During the first three centuries Christianity in Armenia was a hidden religion under heavy persecution.  It was at the beginning of the fourth century, 301 AD, that Christianity was officially accepted by the Armenians as the state religion. Saint Gregory the Illuminator, the patron Saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and King Thiridates III, the ruler of the time, played a pivotal role in the Christianization of Armenia. It is a well known 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.

Saint 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. Saint 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 then would take on the name of Saint 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 come down from heaven with a golden hammer in his hand to locate the site of the new cathedral.

The Armenian Church played a highly magnificent role in the life of the Armenian people. The Armenian alphabet was invented by the Church (Saint Mesrop Mashtots, 406 AD), the Armenian culture was flourished under the guidance of the Church. The Church also played a major part in landmark events of our history. It became the defender of the human rights of its people.    In the sphere of theology, spirituality and literature and arts, many catholicoi, bishops and priests have made valuable contribution to the Christian thought, culture and civilization. The history of the Armenian Church has been one of continuous and living martyrdom. However, creativity and evangelistic witness sustained the life of the Church in the midst of enormous storms and history.

The continuous upheavals, which characterized the history of Armenia, the church center, the Catholicosate moved to different locations together with the political authority. Thus, in 485, it 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 Armenian Kingdom in Cilicia, where it remained for seven centuries. After the fall of the Armenian Kingdom in Cilicia, in 1375, the Armenian 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 in the Ottoman Empire and in the Diaspora.

Two Catholicosates within the Armenian Church:

The existence of two Catholicosates within the Armenian Church, namely the Catholicosate in Etchmiadzin (the Catholicosate of All Armenians or otherwise known as Holy See of Etchmiadzin), Armenia, and the Catholicosate in Antelias Lebanon (the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia or otherwise known as Holy See of Cilicia), is due to historical circumstances. In the 10th century, when Armenia was devastated by Seljuks, the majority of the Armenians left their homeland and came to settle in Cilicia, where they reorganized their political, religious and cultural life. The Catholicosate, the headquarters of the Church also took refuge in Cilicia. 

In 1375 the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia was destroyed. Cilicia became a battleground for Seljuks, Mamluks and other invaders. In the meantime Armenia was having a relatively peaceful time. The deteriorating situation in Cilicia on the one hand, and the growing cultural and religious awakening in Armenia on the other, led the clergy of Armenia to elect a Catholicos in Etchmiadzin. The latter was the original seat of the Catholicosate, but it had ceased to function as Catholicossal 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 in 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 in Etchmiadzin, Armenia has been recognized by the Catholicosate in Sis, Cilicia.

The Catholicosate of Cilicia:

In Cilicia, the Catholicosate became the center of the Armenian life around which the religious, national, cultural, and educational activities were organized. After the Armenian Genocide (1915), the Catholicosate contributed significantly to the formation and organization of the Armenian Diaspora. During World War I (1915-1918), one and a half million Armenians were massacred by the Ottoman-Turkish government. In 1921, when the French forces evacuated Cilicia, a second wave of massacres ordered by Kemalist Turkey took the lives of another three hundred thousand Armenians. The rest of the Armenians were forced to leave their centuries-old homeland and found refuge mostly in Syria and Lebanon. The Catholicosate in Sis, as well thousands of Armenian churches, monasteries, schools and cultural centers were robbed and ruined by the Turks. Catholicos Sahak II Khapayan followed his flock in exile. After wandering in Cyprus, Syria and Lebanon, in 1930, he established the Catholicosate in Antelias, Lebanon.

Thus, a new era of renaissance was opened in the history of the Catholicosate with the organization of dioceses and communities. The Armenian people spread all over the world looked at the Catholicosate with new hopes and expectations. In the course of time and in response to the growing needs of the Armenian communities and changing realities, the scope of the Church’s witness and service was broadened and its priorities were constantly revised. The survival of the Armenian people after the Genocide, which became the focus of the Church’s concern, was soon changed into community-building. The Catholicoi, Papken I, Pedros I, GareGin I, Zareh I, Khoren I and GareGin II, gave a new vitality to the mission of the Armenian Church. Besides the organization of theological and Christian education, the evangelistic witness, building of churches, schools, community centers, social institutions, and homes for elderly people became concrete expressions of the Church’s missionary outreach.

With the election of His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, a new period of dedicated service and dynamic witness begun in the history of the Armenian Church. In fact, the reorganization of the Theological Seminary, Birds’ Nest (orphanage), Sanatorium (hospital), Old People’s Home, the establishment of new departments on ecumenical relations, interreligious dialogue, Christian education, youth, communication and information, Armenian studies, cultural activities, special courses for pastors, and initiation a number of processes and programmes, conferences and seminars aimed at giving a renewed vitality and efficiency to the witness of the Church on interdiocesan and panarmenian levels, clearly indicate the growing expansion of the Catholicosate’s mission of faith and the Church’s active presence in the life of our communities.

The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia has dioceses in the countries of the Middle East, in Europe and in North and South America. The diocesan prelates (Bishops or Archbishops) are elected by the Diocesan Council from the list of the candidates recommended by the Catholicos, and the election is confirmed by the Catholicos.

Source: The official website of the Armenian Orthodox Church; Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia, Antelias, Lebanon.