Armenian Catholic Church

Coordinates: 33.9844°N 35.6842°E

The Armenian Catholic Church[a] is an Eastern Catholic

particular churches sui iuris of the Catholic Church. It accepts
the leadership of the bishop of Rome, and is therefore in full Armenian Catholic Church
communion with the universal Catholic Church, including the Armenian: Հայ Կաթողիկէ Եկեղեցի
Latin Church and the 22 other Eastern Catholic Churches.
The Armenian Catholic Church is regulated by Eastern canon
law, summed up in the Code of Canons of the Eastern
Churches.

The head[4][5] of the sui iuris Armenian Catholic Church is

the Armenian Catholic patriarch of Cilicia, whose main
cathedral and de facto archiepiscopal see is the Cathedral of
Saint Elias and Saint Gregory the Illuminator, in Beirut,
Lebanon.
Cathedral of Saint Elias and Saint
Gregory the Illuminator in Beirut, the
History seat of the Armenian Catholic
Patriarchate of Cilicia.
The 451 Council of Chalcedon caused problems for the
Classification Eastern Catholic
Armenian Church which formally broke off communion with
the Chalcedonian Churches at the 3rd Synod of Dvin in 610. Orientation Eastern Christianity
Some Armenian bishops and congregations made attempts to (Armenian)
restore communion with the Chalcedonian Churches after the Theology Catholic theology
6th Ecumenical Council of 681. During the Crusades, the
Church of the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia entered into Polity Episcopal
union with the Catholic Church, an attempt that did not last. Pope Francis
The union was later re-established during the Council of Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI
Florence in 1439, but did not have any real effects for
Minassian
centuries.
Region Armenian diaspora
Some Armenians converted to Catholicism, and in the Language Armenian
absence of any specific Armenian Catholic Church in effect
became Latins. In medieval China, local Armenians were Liturgy Armenian Rite
converted to Catholicism by John of Montecorvino in Beijing Headquarters Cathedral of St Elias
and there was also an Armenian Franciscan Catholic and St Gregory the
community in Quanzhou. Illuminator, Beirut,
Lebanon
In 1740, Abraham-Pierre I Ardzivian, who had earlier
become a Catholic, was elected as the patriarch of Sis. Two Founder Abraham Petros I
years later, Pope Benedict XIV formally established the Ardzivian
Armenian Catholic Church. In 1749, the Armenian Catholic Origin 1742
Church built a convent in Bzoummar, Lebanon. During the
Ottoman Empire
Armenian genocide in 1915–1918, the Church was scattered
(modern Armenia)
in neighboring countries, mainly in Lebanon and Syria.
Members 150,000 (independent
estimates)[1][2]
An Armenian Catholic community was also previously 757,726 (2017
formed by Armenians living in Poland in the 1630s. The Annuario Pontificio)[3]
Armenian bishop of Leopolis (see Armenian Catholic
Official website www.armeniancatholic
Archeparchy of Lviv), Nicholas (Polish: Mikołaj) Torosowicz
.org (http://www.armen
had entered into union with the Catholic Church. The
community which had been historically centered in Galicia as iancatholic.org/)
well as in the pre-1939 Polish borderlands in the east, was
expelled after World War II to present-day Poland and now has three parishes: in Gdańsk, in Gliwice and in
Warsaw.

There is also a history of conversion of Armenians in Transylvania, which went hand in hand with their
acculturation under Hungarian influence and policies (see Gherla and Dumbrăveni). Their descendants are
part of the Armenian community of modern-day Romania and are tended to by the Ordinariate for
Armenian Catholics of Romania.

Liturgy and practices

The Armenian Rite liturgy, as celebrated in the Armenian language, developed prior to the post-
Chalcedonian interruption of communion and hence is historically common to all Armenian Christians. It is
patterned after the directives of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, founder and patron saint of the Armenian
Church. It is used by both the Armenian Apostolic Church, by the Armenian Catholic Church, and by a
significant number of Eastern Catholic Christians in the Republic of Georgia. Unlike the Byzantine
Church, church buildings of the Armenian rite usually have only a few icons, but like some other Eastern
churches have a barrier concealing the priest and the altar from the people during parts of the liturgy. The
use of bishop's mitre is reminiscent of the influence Western missionaries once had upon both the
miaphysite Orthodox Armenians as well as upon the Armenian Rite Catholics.

Armenian Catholic communities

Apart from Armenia, Georgia and Russia, the Armenian Catholic Church is found widely in the Armenian
diaspora, notably in Lebanon (where the Armenian Catholic Church is headquartered), Syria, Egypt,
Turkey, Iran, France, U.S.A., Canada, Argentina, Uruguay and Australia.

Armenia, Georgia and Eastern Europe

Armenian Catholics originated in what is today Armenia,

Georgia and Eastern Europe. Beginning in the late 1920s,
persecution caused many Armenian Catholics to emigrate. In
1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Bishop of Rome,
Pope John Paul II merged the communities in Georgia and
Russia with those in Armenia, creating the new Ordinariate for
Catholics of Armenian Rite in Eastern Europe, with its
residence in Gyumri. The city was not chosen by chance: most
Catholic Armenians live in the northern parts of Armenia. This
Saint John Church of Sohrol in Iran, built
has become a kind of basis for fence-mending with the
in the 5th or 6th century
coreligionists on the other side of the border.

Today Catholic Armenians of Samtskhe-Javakheti live

together in Akhaltsikhe and in the nearby villages, as well as in the regions of Akhalkalaki and
Ninotsminda. The communities in the last two regions, which are mainly rural, are found in rather distant
areas, but the most important link is the historical memory of Catholicism.

A small seminary was established in Gyumri, Armenia, in 1994; there candidates for the priesthood engage
in basic studies before moving to the Pontifical College of the Armenians (established 1885) in Rome,
where they pursue philosophy and theology.

There are also tens of thousands of Armenian Catholics in Russia, due to the extensive migration from
Armenia to Russia that has occurred since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

United States and Canada

Currently around 1.5 million Armenians live in North

America, of which 35,000 belong to the Armenian Catholic
Church.

In the 19th century Catholic Armenians from Western

Armenia, mainly from the towns and cities of Karin
(Erzurum), and from Constantinople and Mardin, traveled to
the United States seeking employment. By the end of that
century, many survivors of the Hamidian Massacres had
Saint Gregory the Illuminator Armenian
concentrated in several U.S. cities, chiefly in New York.
Catholic Cathedral in Glendale, California
Catholic Armenian communities were also founded in New
Jersey, in Boston and Detroit, as in Los Angeles and other
cities of California.

Catholic Armenian educational organizations were also founded in many cities. In Philadelphia and Boston,
colleges were founded by Armenian sisters, educating hundreds of children. Later, a similar college was
founded in Los Angeles. The Mechitarists in particular were preoccupied with the problem of preserving
Armenian identity. With the support of the Mekhitarists of Venice and Vienna, the Mekhitarian College was
founded in Los Angeles.

Many Armenians came to the United States and Canada from the Middle Eastern countries of Lebanon and
Syria in the 1970s and in later years. Moreover, many Armenians migrated from Argentina, because of the
economic crisis there. At the same time, many Catholic Armenians moved within the United States to San
Francisco, San Diego, Chicago, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Miami and Indianapolis.

In 2005, by Pope Benedict XVI's decision, the Catholic Exarchate of the USA and Canada was raised to
the status of a diocese. It serviced 35,000 Catholic Armenians in the United States and some 10,000 in
Canada. The bishop, or eparch, of the diocese, which has jurisdiction over Canadian and American
Catholics who are members of the Armenian Catholic Church, became Manuel Batakian. According to a
news release by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops published on Monday, May 23, 2011,
Pope Benedict XVI, named Archpriest Mikaël Antoine Mouradian, superior of the Convent of Notre Dame
in Bzommar, Lebanon, as the new bishop of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg in New York for Armenian
Catholics. The appointment of Lebanon-born Bishop Mouradian was publicized in Washington on May 21
by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States.[6]

France

Next to North America, France holds the largest number of Armenian Catholics outside the Middle East
and Eastern Europe. The Eparchy of Sainte-Croix-de-Paris was established in 1960 with Bishop Garabed
Armadouni as exarch. Since 1977, the eparchy has been led by Bishop Krikor Gabroyan.
There are some 30,000 Armenian Catholics in the eparchy, the headquarters of which are in Paris. Apart
from the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Paris, the eparchy has six churches: in Arnouville-lès-Gonesse,
Lyon, Marseille, Saint-Chamond, Sèvres and Valence. A community of Mekhitarist Fathers resides in
Sèvres and a convent of Armenian Sisters of the Immaculate Conception runs a school in Marseille.

Brazil

The Catholic Armenian Community of São Paulo was founded in 1935, as the Chaplaincy of the Catholic
Armenian Mission, responding to requests from Armenian immigrants who had settled in Brazil since 1923,
mostly from Marach, actually a city of Turkey. The church is between the metro stations Armênia and
Tiradentes, at Tiradentes Avenue #718.[7]

Demographics
Estimates from the 19th century varied between 40.000[8] to
150.000 [9] Armenian Catholics worldwide, and 136,400 in
1911[10]

Independent sources estimate the number of Catholic Armenians in

the early 21st century at 150,000, with sizable communities in
Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Jerusalem, France and the United
States.[1][2]

Bishops meeting in Jerusalem, circa

Structure 1880. The archbishop (centre) wears
a Roman pallium.
The Armenian Catholic Church is divided into Archdioceses,
Eparchies, Apostolic Exarchates, Ordinariates for the Faithful of the
Eastern Rite and Patriarchal Exarchates, each of which has
functions similar to a diocese.

A map of Armenian Catholic Headquarters of the Armenian

jurisdictions Catholic Patriarchate in Bzoummar,
Lebanon

Current hierarchy

The Armenian Catholic Patriarchate of the See of Cilicia is the supreme authority of the Armenian Catholic
Church. On 23 September 2021, Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian was elected as the Church's new
patriarch.[11]

Below is a list of the jurisdictions with their number of adherents.[12]

Archeparchies (Archdioceses) 1990 2000 2017

Patriarchate of Cilicia, also sole

Metropolitanate as Armenian
Catholic Archeparchy of Beirut, 15,000 12,000 12,500
Lebanon (Patriarchal proper
archdiocese)

Archeparchy of Aleppo (Halab,

15,000 17,000 7,000
Beroa), Syria
Archeparchy of Baghdad, Iraq 2,200 2,000 2,400

Archeparchy of Istanbul Cathedral of the Holy Martyrs in

3,700 3,680 2,500 Gyumri, Armenia
(Constantinople), Turkey

Archeparchy of Lviv, Ukraine N/A N/A 0

Suffragan Eparchies in the
Patriarch's Metropolitan
Province of Cilicia

Ispahan, Iran 2,200 2,200 150

Alexandria (Iskanderiya) actually

1,500 1,287 6,500
in Cairo, Egypt
Kameshli ((Al-)Qamishli), Syria 4,303 4,000 3,500

Other Eparchies (dioceses), in

the diaspora Armenian Catholic church of the Holy
Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg in Trinity in Aleppo, Syria
the United States of America and 34,000 36,000 36,000
Canada
Eparchy of Sainte-Croix-de-
30,000 30,000 35,000
Paris, France

Eparchy of Saint Gregory of established

16,000 16,350
Narek, Buenos Aires in 1989

Apostolic Exarchates
(missionary, directly
dependent on the Holy See)
Armenian Catholic Apostolic
Exarchate of Latin America and 30,000 12,000 12,000
Mexico

Ordinariates for the Faithful of

the Eastern Rites
Greece (Athens) 650 600 200

Ordinariate for Romania (Gherla) N/A 1,000 626

Eastern Europe (except established

220,000 618,000
Romania) (Gyumri, Armenia) in 1991
Patriarchal Exarchates

Damascus, part of Syria 9,000 8,000 4,500

Jerusalem and Amman (Jordan &

N/A 280 500
Holy Land)
TOTAL 142,853 362,047 757,726
Titular Metropolitan Archeparchies

Achrida (Ohrid), Pessinus, Traianopolis in Rhodope

Titular Non-metropolitan Archeparchies

Chalcedon, Colonia in Armenia, Mardin, Nisibis of the Armenians, Sebaste, Tarsus

Titular Eparchies

Adana, Amida, Anazarbus, Ancyra, Artvin, Cesarea in Cappadocia, Garin, Kharput, Marasc, Melitene,
Mush, Prusa, Tokat, Trapezus

Publications
The Armenian Catholic Church produces a number of publications:

Avedik, the official organ of the church

Avedaper Verelk, a religious, spiritual and cultural publication of St. Gregory Armenian
Catholic Church
Avedaper, a weekly bulletin of the Armenian Catholic dioceses
Gantch Hrechdagabedin, official publication of the Our Lady of Bzommar Convent
Massis, a general monthly publication
Church bulletins

The Armenian Catholic Church has presses that publish many liturgical, spiritual books, publications,
pamphlets and translations from general Catholic publications.

Gallery
Armenian Catholic parishes
 Armenian Catholic Interior of the St. Gregory the St. Gregory the
Church of the Holy Armenian Church in Illuminator – St. Elie Illuminator
Trinity in Gliwice, Stanyslaviv, Ukraine Church, Debbas Cathedral, Glendale,
Poland, built in (1763) Square, downtown California (2001)
1836–38 Beirut, Lebanon
(1909)

Armenian Catholic Armenian Catholic Interior view of Armenian Catholic

Cathedral of Our Patriarchate in Armenian Catholic Church in São
Lady of Bzommar, Jerusalem (1996) Church (Buenos Paulo
Montevideo, Aires)
Uruguay

See also
Armenian Apostolic Church
Armenian Evangelical Church
Catholic Church in Armenia
List of Armenian Catholic Patriarchs of Cilicia
Mechitarist Monks of the Armenian Catholic Church
Ignatius Maloyan
Gregorio Pietro Agagianian
 Religion in Armenia

Notes
a. Armenian: Հայ Կաթողիկէ Եկեղեցի, romanized: Hay Kat’ołikē Ekełec’i; Latin: Ecclesia
armeno-catholica

References

Citations
1. Adalian, Rouben Paul (2010). Historical Dictionary of Armenia. Scarecrow Press. p. 233 (htt
ps://books.google.com/books?id=QS-vSjHObOYC&dq=armenian+catholic+church+follower
s&pg=PA233). ISBN 9780810874503.
2. Tchilingirian, Hratch. "The Armenian Church: A Brief Introduction" (https://web.archive.org/we
b/20190423093507/http://hygradaran.weebly.com/uploads/1/1/8/6/11869782/armenian_chur
ch_introduction.pdf) (PDF). hygradaran. Armenian Church Library. p. 8. Archived from the
original (http://hygradaran.weebly.com/uploads/1/1/8/6/11869782/armenian_church_introdu
ction.pdf) (PDF) on 23 April 2019. "According to Vatican sources, some 250,000 Armenians
belong to the Armenian Catholic Church (others put the number closer to 150,000) with
communities in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, Jerusalem and the US."
3. Roberson, Ronald G. "The Eastern Catholic Churches 2016" (https://web.archive.org/web/2
0161020094357/http://www.cnewa.org/source-images/roberson-eastcath-statistics/eastcath
olic-stat16.pdf) (PDF). Eastern Catholic Churches Statistics. Catholic Near East Welfare
Association. Archived from the original (http://www.cnewa.org/source-images/Roberson-east
cath-statistics/eastcatholic-stat16.pdf) (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 29 November
2016.
4. Armenian Catholic Church Written by: The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (https://www.
britannica.com/topic/Armenian-Catholic-Church)
5. The Eastern Catholic Churches: Part 2, the Armenian Rite (https://media.ascensionpress.co
m/2019/02/05/the-eastern-catholic-churches-part-2-the-armenian-rite/)
6. "Pope Names New Eparch for Armenian Catholics In US And Canada" (https://web.archive.
org/web/20110525024618/http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2011/11-107E.shtml).
USCCB News Release. 21 May 2011. Archived from the original (http://www.usccb.org/com
m/archives/2011/11-107E.shtml) on 2011-05-25.
7. "Histórico" (https://paroquiaarmenia.org.br/historico/). Paróquia Armênia Católica São
Gregório Iluminator. 27 April 2023.
8. "Reviews". Evangelical Christendom: Its State and Prospects. London: Evangelical Alliance.
I: 393 (https://archive.org/details/evangelicalchri03alligoog/page/n401). 1847.
9. Russell, C. W. (May 1842). "The Armenian Convent of San Lazzaro, at Venice". The Dublin
Review. 12: 375 (https://books.google.com/books?id=ejUYAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA375).
10. Ormanian, Malachia (1911). Հայոց եկեղեցին և իր պատմութիւնը,
վարդապետութիւնը, վարչութիւնը, բարեկարգութիւնը, արաողութիւնը,
գրականութիւն, ու ներկայ կացութիւնը [The Church of Armenia: her history, doctrine,
rule, discipline, liturgy, literature, and existing condition] (in Armenian). Constantinople.
pp. 259–267.
11. "Արհ. Տ. Ռաֆայէլ Արքեպիսկոպոս Մինասեան ընտրուեցաւ Տանն Կիլիկիոյ
Կաթողիկէ Հայոց ԻԱ Պատրիարք" (https://www.vaticannews.va/hy/church/news/2021-
09/hy-eletto-21-patriarca-casa-cilicia-armeni-cattolici-minassian.html). vaticannews.va.
Vatican News. 23 September 2021. Retrieved 2021-09-23.
12. "The Eastern Catholic Churches 2-008" (https://web.archive.org/web/20181024215818/htt
p://www.cnewa.org/source-images/Roberson-eastcath-statistics/eastcatholic-stat17.pdf)
(PDF). cnewa.org. Catholic Near East Welfare Association. Archived from the original (http://
www.cnewa.org/source-images/Roberson-eastcath-statistics/eastcatholic-stat17.pdf) (PDF)
on 2018-10-24. Retrieved 2018-12-03.

Other Sources
Frazee, Charles A. (2006) [1983]. Catholics and Sultans: The Church and the Ottoman
Empire 1453–1923 (https://books.google.com/books?id=X6DM4szwUpEC). Cambridge,
England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521027007.
Kornél, Nagy (2011). "The Catholicization of Transylvanian Armenians (1685-1715):
Integrative or Disintegrative Model?". Integrating Minorities: Traditional Communities and
Modernization (https://books.google.com/books?id=ztgwoGq1OYQC). Cluj-Napoca: Editura
ISPMN. pp. 33–56. ISBN 9786069274491.
Stopka, Krzysztof (2016). Armenia Christiana: Armenian Religious Identity and the Churches
of Constantinople and Rome (4th-15th century) (https://books.google.com/books?id=eeq-DQ
AAQBAJ). Kraków: Jagiellonian University Press. ISBN 9788323395553.

Arestakes Simavoryan. Armenian Catholic Community in Russia. 2010.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3883927
Arestakes Simavoryan. Catholic Armenians in Poland. 2011.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3897582
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in Turkey: Modern Tendencies (in Armenian). 2011. ISBN 978-9939-825-18-2.
http://noravank.am/eng/books/detail.php?ELEMENT_ID=6812

External links
Armenian Catholic Church (http://www.armeniancatholic.org/)
GCatholic (http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/rite-A.htm)
Armenian Catholic Eparchy of USA and Canada (https://web.archive.org/web/20110720055
734/http://armenianeparchy.org/)
Armenian Catholic Community in Australia (http://www.armeniancatholic.org.au/)
Armenian Catholic Church in Lebanon (https://web.archive.org/web/20140206185318/http://
www.opuslibani.org.lb/armenimenu.html)
Armeniapedia – Armenian Catholic Church (http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Ar
menian_Catholic_Church)
Article on the Armenian Catholic Church by Ronald Roberson on the CNEWA web site (http
s://cnewa.org/eastern-christian-churches/toc/the-catholic-eastern-churches/from-the-oriental-
orthodox-churches/the-armenian-catholic-church/)
St. Mark's Armenian Catholic Church, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (https://web.archive.
org/web/20120826000319/http://armenianeparchy.org/stmarks/)
CWR – St. Gregory of Narek: Was the New Doctor of the Church a Catholic? (http://www.cat
holicworldreport.com/Item/3719/st_gregory_of_narek_was_the_new_doctor_of_the_church
_a_catholic.aspx)
Armenian Religious Relations and the Roman Catholic Church

Pope Benedict XIV, Allatae Sunt (On the observance of Oriental Rites), Encyclical, 1755 (htt
p://www.ewtn.com/library/ENCYC/B14ALLAT.HTM)
Common Declaration of Pope John Paul II and Catholicos Karekin I, 1996 (https://web.archi
ve.org/web/20150226085232/http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstun
i/anc-orient-ch-docs/rc_pc_christuni_doc_19961213_jp-ii-karekin-i_en.html)
Common Declaration of John Paul II and Aram I Keshishian, 1997 (https://web.archive.org/w
eb/20150226083835/http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/anc-ori
ent-ch-docs/rc_pc_christuni_doc_19970125_jp-ii-aram-i_en.html)
John Paul II to Karekin I, 1999 (https://web.archive.org/web/20150226062538/http://w2.vatic
an.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/1999/june/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_19990629_karek
in-i.html)
Joint Declaration signed by John Paul II and Karekin II, 2000 (http://www.ewtn.com/library/P
APALDOC/ZJP2ARMN.HTM)
Greeting by Pope Benedict XVI to His Holiness Aram I, 2008 (https://web.archive.org/web/20
150226064258/http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2008/november/docu
ments/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20081124_catholicos.html)
Dialogue and Joint Declarations with the Roman Catholic Church (https://web.archive.org/w
eb/20180112010342/http://sor.cua.edu/Ecumenism/RC.html)

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