After a one-year vacancy due to a confusing period where there were two rival Catholicoi, King Ashot III "the Merciful" called an assembly to pick a new Catholicos. Khachik, a relative of the Catholicos Ananias was selected and was able to settle the problems which had arisen from the dueling Catholicoi and the schism it caused.
He appointed bishops in the eastern regions of the Byzantine Empire, in Antioch, Tarsus, Isauria and elsewhere, where large Armenian communities had emerged. He was engaged in church construction, built three Catholic churches in Argina, established a library. Sargis A Sevantsi succeeded him on the Catholicosic throne.
The Catholicos of All Armenians is the chief bishop and spiritual leader of Armenia's national church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, and the worldwide Armenian diaspora. The Armenian Catholicos is also known as the Armenian Pontiff and by other titles. According to tradition, the apostles Saint Thaddeus and Saint Bartholomew brought Christianity to Armenia in the first century. Saint Gregory the Illuminator became the first Catholicos of All Armenians following the nation's adoption of Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD. The seat of the Catholicos, and the spiritual and administrative headquarters of the Armenian Church, is the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, located in the city of Vagharshapat.
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the national church of Armenia. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christian institutions. The Kingdom of Armenia was the first state in history to adopt Christianity as its official religion under the rule of King Tiridates III, of the Arsacid dynasty in the early 4th century.
Vazgen I also Vazken I of Bucharest, born Levon Garabed Baljian was the Catholicos of All Armenians between 1955 and 1994, for a total of 39 years, the 4th longest reign in the history of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
A catholicos is the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and, in some cases, it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancient Greek καθολικός, derived from καθ' ὅλου from κατά and ὅλος, meaning "concerning the whole, universal, general"; it originally designated a financial or civil office in the Roman Empire.
Karekin I served as the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church between 1994 and 1999. Previously, he served as the Catholicos of Cilicia from 1983 to 1994 as Karekin II.
Nerses is an Armenian variant of Narses. With the addition of -ian and -yan, it becomes an Armenian family name like Nersesian and Nersisyan.
The Armenian Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church. Since 1930, the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia has been headquartered in Antelias, Lebanon. Aram I is the Catholicos of Cilicia since 1995.
Catholicos Gregory IX Mousabegian was the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church at Cilicia between 1439 and 1446.
Khoren I Paroyian was the Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia, from 1963 to 1983.
Catholicos Peter I Getadardz was the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church between 1019 and 1058. He was the brother of a former Catholicos Khachik I. He was the author of several works of sermons, anthems, and elegies on early Christian martyrs.
Daniel I of Armenia was the 16th Catholicos-Patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He was a Syrian who reigned as the Catholicoi after the reign of four hereditary Parthian catholicoi (St. Gregory I the Enlightener, his son St. Aristaces I, St. Vrtanes I and St. Husik I. He only ruled less than one year in 347 AD and was succeeded by Pharen I of Armenia.
Pharen I of Armenia was the 17th Catholicos-Patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Zaven I was a catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He reigned from 377 to 381 AD and second of three catholicoi from the Albaniosid Dynasty.
Aspuraces I was a catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He reigned from 381 to 386 AD and third of three catholicoi from the Albaniosid Dynasty.
Khachik II was the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church between 1058 and 1065. He succeeded his uncle Peter I of Armenia still in the city of Ani. He was summoned to Constantinople on the assumption that his uncle had been in possession of the treasures of the Armenian kings which the emperor wanted, but Peter did not have any of it. Khachik remained there for three years and the emperor tried to get the Armenians to switch to using the Greek religious rites. The clergy drew up a statement that they would never submit to the Greek rite, causing the Byzantines to look upon the Armenians as infidels.
The Kingdom of Vaspurakan was a medieval Armenian kingdom centered on Lake Van, located in what is now eastern Turkey and northwestern Iran. It was named after Vaspurakan, a province of historic Greater Armenia. Ruled by the Artsruni dynasty, it competed and cooperated with the Bagratuni-ruled Kingdom of Armenia for a little over a century until its last king ceded the kingdom to the Byzantine Empire in 1021.
List of catholicoi :
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, known in Armenian as simply the Mother See, is the governing body of the Armenian Apostolic Church. It is headquartered around Etchmiadzin Cathedral in Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), Armenia and is the seat of the Catholicos of All Armenians, the head of the church.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
