The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) also known as the Indian Orthodox Church (IOC) or simply as the Malankara Church, is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church headquartered in Devalokam, near Kottayam, India. The church serves India's Saint Thomas Christian population. According to tradition, the Malankara Orthodox church originated in the missions of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century(A.D.52).
Kozan, formerly Sis, is a city in Adana Province, Turkey, 68 kilometres northeast of Adana, in the northern section of the Çukurova plain. The city is the capital of the ilçe (district) of Kozan. The Kilgen River, a tributary of the Ceyhan, flows through Kozan and crosses the plain south into the Mediterranean. The Taurus Mountains rise up sharply behind the town.
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. 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 the Armenian people. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christian institutions. The Kingdom of Armenia was the first state to adopt Christianity as its official religion under the rule of King Tiridates III of the Arsacid dynasty in the early 4th century. According to tradition, the church originated in the missions of Apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus of Edessa in the 1st 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. The following three served for 39 years as Catholicos of All Armenians or Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia:
- Peter I (1019–1058) — Պետրոս Ա Գետադարձ,
- Gregory II the Martyrophile (1066–1105) — Գրիգոր Բ. Վկայասէր and
- David IV (1590–1629), d. 1633 — Դավիթ Դ Վաղարշապատցի.
Etchmiadzin Cathedral is the mother church of the Armenian Apostolic Church, located in the city of Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), Armenia. According to most scholars it was the first cathedral built in ancient Armenia, and is often considered the oldest cathedral in the world.
Catholicos, plural Catholicoi, is a title used for 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, pl. καθολικοί, 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. The name of the Catholic Church comes from the same word—however, the title "Catholicos" does not exist in its hierarchy.
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.
Gandzasar is a 13th-century Armenian Apostolic cathedral near the village of Vank in the Martakert Province of the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh, de jure in the Kalbajar District of Azerbaijan. It has historically been the region's most important church since its foundation. One of the finest pieces of Armenian architecture of the mid-1200s, the building is best known among scholars for its richly decorated dome.
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 of the Armenian Apostolic Church since 1995.
Karekin I was a scholar of Armenian art and Catholicos of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church from 1943 to 1952.
Catholicos Gregory IX Mousabegian was the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church at Cilicia between 1439 and 1446.
Vagharshapat is the 4th-largest city in Armenia and the most populous municipal community of Armavir Province, located about 18 km (11 mi) west of the capital Yerevan, and 10 km (6 mi) north of the closed Turkish-Armenian border. It is commonly known as Ejmiatsin, which was its official name between 1945 and 1995. It is still commonly used colloquially and in official bureaucracy.
The Church of Albania or the Albanian Apostolic Church was an ancient, briefly autocephalous church established in the 5th century. In 705, It fell under the religious jurisdiction of the Armenian Apostolic Church as the Catholicosate of Aghvank centered in Caucasian Albania, a region spanning present-day northern Azerbaijan and southern Dagestan.
The Oriental Orthodox Churches are a group of Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with a total of approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are broadly part of the trinitarian Nicene Christian tradition shared by today’s mainstream churches, and represent one of its oldest branches.
Gevorkian Theological Seminary, also known as Gevorkian Seminary, is a theological university-institute of the Armenian Apostolic Church founded by Catholicos George IV in 1874. It is located in the town of Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin) within the complex of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Armenia.
Archbishop Leon Tourian was a cleric of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Appointed primate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America in 1931, he was assassinated in New York City by his political opponents.
Khoren I Muradbekian was an Armenian Apostolic religious figure who served as Catholicos from 1932 until his murder in 1938. He previously served as locum tenens, between 1923 and 1932, in the latter years of and after the death of Catholicos Gevorg V, and bishop of Yerevan from 1910 to 1924.
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.
Armenian Diocese of Cyprus, is one of the oldest dioceses of the Armenian Apostolic Church outside the historic Armenian territories, covering the Republic of Cyprus. It has been founded during the 12th century and currently has around 3,500 followers, comprising around 95% of the Armenians in Cyprus. The diocese is under the jurisdiction of the Holy See of Cilicia of the Armenian Church.
