Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem
The Patriarchate of Jerusalem is the Archdiocese of Jerusalem of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Until 1929 included the Armenian Diocese of Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus and Egypt to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem; then took over the Catholicos of Cilicia their care.
Patriarchy is the guardian of the Armenian holy sites in Jerusalem, in charge of the Armenian community of the Holy Land and is responsible for the Armenian pilgrims to the Holy City.
Patriarchal Cathedral is St. Jacob Church in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City, where the skull of the Apostle James is kept ( other relics of this disciple of Jesus are venerated in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela ).
The Armenians have also, in addition to five other Christian denominations share of the Holy Sepulchre, the holiest site in Christendom.
History
Patriarchy emerged after a widespread since the 18th century interpretation of the opposition of the Jerusalem Armenians against the romfreundlichen and latinisierenden decisions of the Synod of Sis in 1307 in the Kingdom of Lesser Armenia. Bishop Sargis ( Sarkis ) of Jerusalem ( term of office 1281-1313 ) was, it is said, raised to the Catholicos of the Armenians in 1311 and gained recognition as patrik ( Patriarch ) by his sovereign, the Mamluk Sultan Malik Nasr. Sources for this assertion are lacking. Despite reservations about the agreement of Cilician Armenians with Rome in the 14th century it was historically not a formal break between Jerusalem and the Catholicos of Sis and the Armenian kings of Lesser Armenia. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the Jerusalem Patriarchate had close relations with the Catholicos of Cilicia, and came only in the 19th century under the jurisdiction of the " Catholicos of All Armenians " in Echmiadzin.
Present situation
The Armenian Christians in the Holy Land form four parishes: Jerusalem, Bethlehem (about 450 members), Jaffa (about 400) and Haifa ( 350 ). The church in Jerusalem in 1967 counted about 3000 members, 2006 only 1500.