Armenian Catholic Church

The Armenian Catholic Church (Armenian Հայ Կաթողիկե Եկեղեցի Hay Kat'oġikē Ekeġec'i ) is an Eastern Catholic Church with the Armenian Rite. It forms the united with the Pope of Rome branch of the Armenian Catholicosate of Sis in Cilicia.

History

The Armenian Catholicos in the Kingdom of Lesser Armenia was on friendly terms for the first time from 1198 until its demise in 1375 with the Roman Catholic Church. The Church Union in 1439 was renewed at the Council of Florence, but had only in Kaffa in the Crimea stock longer.

Under Pope Pius IV and Catholicos of Echmiadzin Michael I of relations between the two churches resumed. In 1563 the church of Santa Maria Egiziana received the Armenians is in Rome. In the following years, Rome was with his two apostles graves to a pilgrimage of Armenians and a refuge in persecutions, in particular for Catholic -minded Armenian monks, priests and bishops. 1713, Pope Clement XI. who had fled to Rome Krikor Archbishop of Edessa ( Echmiadzin Catholicos ) of the Armenian Bishop in Rome. In this capacity, he was the successor to the middle of the 20th century.

As the number of the Armenian Catholic Christians in the Middle East continues to increase, to 1740, the Catholic -minded Armenian Archbishop Abraham Ardzivian of Aleppo was elected by his supporters (counter) Catholicos of the small Armenian Catholicosate of Sis ( Cilicia ). In 1742 he was in Rome, the pallium from the hands of Pope Benedict XIV The not recognized by the Ottoman State Armenian Catholic " Patriarch of Cilicia " (Official Name: Peter) finally took her seat in 1749, founded the monastery Bzommar at Beirut in Lebanon and had church jurisdiction only in the southern part of the Ottoman Empire ( Cilicia, Syria, Mesopotamia, Palestine and Egypt).

For the Armenian Catholic community in and around Constantinople Opel (Istanbul) a special Vicariate Apostolic at the local ( = Pope ) was established in 1759 delegate. In civil matters, even in baptism, marriage and burial, were subject to all the Catholic Armenians Armenian Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople Opel until 1829, when the Ottoman state recognized a " Katolik millet ". Compared to the state it was from a Patrik, initially a chosen priest without a bishop Rank represented. The ecclesiastical jurisdiction, however, was an Armenian Catholic Archbishop Primate of Constantinople Opel (Istanbul), the. Pope Pius IX under five suffragans received.

With the papal bull Reversurus from the year 1867, the Armenian Catholic Church Province Constantine Opel was combined with the Cilician patriarchy and the patriarchal laid to Istanbul. After the Armenian persecution at the end of the First World War, in which the Armenian Catholic Church ten thousands of believers, 130 priests and seven bishops lost, he was reintroduced in 1928 Bzommar.

In the Armenian diaspora in the 17th century it came to unions of smaller groups with Rome, especially in Galicia (Lviv, 1635 ) and Transylvania.

In today's Armenia Armenian Catholic community was founded in the 19th century by refugees from the Ottoman Empire.

Among the Popes Pius IX. and Pius X. There were substantial intra-church disputes over the question of the participation of laity in episcopal orders. In this context stepped beside other Malachia Ormanian about the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Presence

Today the Armenian Catholic Church has about 500,000 believers in 15 dioceses and missions. Serve more than 100 priests and 125 nuns. An acting head is Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX Catholicos - .. He lives in Bzommar Monastery ( Lebanon).

Eparchies and dioceses

The Catholic Armenians live mainly in the states of the Middle East. In North America, there is a large diaspora, which has its own eparchy. In 1991 a chair of Catholic Armenians based in Gyumri (Armenia ) was founded, which was later expanded to include Georgia and Eastern Europe. Furthermore, there is since 1710 the archeparchy Aleppo in Syria, since 1850, the Eparchy of Ispahan in Iran, since 1885 the Eparchy Iskanderiya for Egypt, since 1925, the Ordinariate Greece, since 1928 the archeparchy Istanbul, since 1929 the Archdiocese of Beirut, since 1954 the archeparchy Baghdad in Iraq since 1960, the Eparchy of Sainte -Croix -de- Paris, since 1989, the Eparchy of San Gregorio de Narek in Buenos Aires and since 1981, the Exarchate of Latin America and Mexico. The former 5,000 strong believer in Lviv diocese was wiped out after the Second World War and is now only about 20 to 30 members.

Stand-alone parishes

The following independent churches of the Armenian Catholic Church:

• Australia: " Our Lady of the Assumption " in Sydney
• Poland
• Romania
• Sweden (Stockholm)
• Ukraine

Religious communities

In the Armenian Catholic Church three patriarchal religious communities are located, these include:

• The Patriarchal Congregation of Bzommar,
• The monastic orders and the Mechitarists
• The Congregation of the Armenian Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of Mary

Liturgy

The Liturgy of the Armenian Catholic Church follows the Armenian rite. The liturgical language itself is Armenian. After the Second Vatican Council, there was a liturgical reform with the aim to eliminate Armenian Catholic special developments and to reduce differences to the Mother Church.

Professor of the Armenians in Rome

The following Bishops of the Armenian Catholic Church were " Professor of the Armenians in Rome":

• August 26, 1881 - December 27, 1900 Titular "pro hac vice " of Attalea in Pamphylia Giovanni Kupelian
• February 24, 1900 - April 16, 1911 Titular Archbishop of Amasea Paul rubian
• March 7, 1911 - December 13, 1937 Titular Archbishop of Chalcedon dei Armeni Pietro Kojunian, retired bishop of the Eparchy simultaneously Iskanderiya
• January 15, 1938 - July 4, 1952 Titular Archbishop of Chalcedon dei Armeni Sergio The Abrahamian
• May 10, 1952 - April 17, 1967 Titular Archbishop of Pedachtoë Krikor Hindie simultaneously retired Archbishop of Aleppo