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Why 2 Churches? (Sep 11, 2007)
Posted On 09/11/2007 09:14:03 by AlphaCarbon
from wikipedia

"The Armenian Apostolic Church is headed by a Catholicos (the plural is Catholicoi). (The Armenian Apostolic Church should not be confused, however, with the Armenian Catholic Church, which is an Eastern Catholic church in communion with the See of Rome (whose bishop is the Pope). At present, the Catholicos of All Armenians is his Holiness Karekin II (sometimes spelled as Garegin), who resides in the city of Echmiadzin, west of Yerevan. A second Catholicos, His Holiness Aram I Catholicos of Cilicia, who resides in Antilyas in Lebanon, leads churches belonging to the Holy See of Cilicia. The division stems from frequent relocations of the Church headquarters under Ottoman Rule and was further reinforced during the period in which Armenia was part of the Soviet Union. However, the Catholicos of All Armenians claims theoretical sovereignty over the Catholicos of Cilicia. The Armenian Apostolic Church is one of a few denominations in the world to have a democratic system; the people decide if they want to keep priests in their churches and may ask for different ones, as do some other connectional ecclesial structures, such as Presbyterians"

I have a simple question..and it is truly a question..not a point I am trying to make.

Why do we still have TWO divisions of the Armenian Church?
I understand why it existed historically...but why does it still exist?

p.s. the democratic thing was news to me :)))

Tags: Armenian Church



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Viewing 1 - 10 out of 10 Comments

From: jon2k4
09/12/2007 19:39:40
Nah... what are the chances of someone seeing it there? lol


From: AlphaCarbon
09/12/2007 07:53:04
let's put the question..in the Random Poll section in HyeClub.com

right next to ..."which picture do you find more sexy?" LOL


From: jon2k4
09/12/2007 07:03:41
And which is the REAL church?


From: AlphaCarbon
09/12/2007 05:17:35
nice info jon2k4
but how come nobody questinos the need for TWO Katholicos?
I still don't understand why we have to headquarters..and two CEO ?


From: jon2k4
09/11/2007 20:17:40
HISTORY
Around 300: Christianity becomes state religion of Armenia, when the king is converted by Gregory the Illuminator. He establishes his headquarters in Echmiadzin (in modern Armenia).
4th century: Breaks from the Eastern Orthodox Church, and keeps close ties with the Syrian church. The Armenian church even uses the Syriac alphabet.
5th century: An Armenian alphabet is invented, and many scriptures are translated into Armenian.
Around 500: The Armenian Church rejects the conclusion of the Council of Chalcedon (in 451) which had defined Jesus as having 2 natures, divine and human, coexisting in one person.
485: The headquarters are moved to Dvin.
506: The Armenian Church adopts the Monophysite doctrine, that Jesus has only one, divine, nature.
7th century: The Georgian branch breaks away from the Armenian Church, and joins the Greek Orthodox Church. The Armenian continues its cooperation with the Coptic Church and Syrian Jacobite churches.
1293: The headquarters are moved to Sis (now Kozan, Turkey).
14th century: The patriarchate of Jerusalem is founded by local Christians.
1441: The headquarters of the church moves to Echmiadzin. Here a new institution was established, the "Katholikos of all Armenians".
1461: An Armenian patriarchate of Constantinople (now Istanbul) is created by sultan Mehmed 2, in order to have a leader of Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire, so that it would be easier to conduct politics towards his Armenian subjects.


From: jon2k4
09/11/2007 20:17:09
1742: A part of the Armenian church breaks off to form the Armenian Catholic Church.

1915-18: The Armenians suffer heavy persecution from the Ottoman regime.

1930: The Katholikos of Sis moves to Antelias in Lebanon.


From: jon2k4
09/11/2007 20:14:58
Here is some more related stuff...

Today, the highest position is the Katholikos, a sort of archbishop. There are 2 Katholikos, the supreme one in Echmiadzin, Armenia, and the Katholikos of the Middle East, located in Antelias, Lebanon. Then there are 2 patriarchs, one in Istanbul, Turkey, and one in Jerusalem, Israel/Palestine. While the Katholikos of Echmiadzin is officially the head of the church, many believers support the Katholikos in Antelias.


From: jon2k4
09/11/2007 20:03:15
errr... nevermind.

The Armenian Orthodox Church is also called The Armenian Apostolic Church. This name is based upon the belief that Armenia was christianized by the two Apostles, Bartholomew and Thaddeus.

The Armenian Orthodox Church has one of the oldest traditions in the Christian world. It has not developed in a vacuum, there have been close contacts with the Syrian church from which it has received scriptures, liturgy and much of its theology.


From: jon2k4
09/11/2007 17:23:30
And all this time I thought priests were just poor guys doing a good deed in return for free wine and bread
Who knew they had power to rule

So which branch does the Orthodox church belong to?


From: NovaBahjat
09/11/2007 09:46:38
Great point... i have asked this question many times, and yet no one in the church would answer other than.. we follow.., they follow...

I guess it simply filters down to politics and who has the power over who.


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