CHURCH IMPORTANT FOR MAINTENANCE OF ARMENIAN IDENTITY
PanARMENIAN.Net
14.01.2010 12:25 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ diepresse.com Austrian website has posted Margarita
Schubert’s article titled "Armenians in Austria: church is the only
piece of homeland."
"Armenians easily integrate into other societies but do not forget
their origins. Nevertheless, even a centuries-old and richest
culture can prevent diversion from national traditions and values,"
the author wrote.
Commenting on the article to Pan.ARMENIAN.Net, Archimandrite Vahan
Hovakimyan said, "The problem of preservation of national identity
is urgent for Armenians across the globe and the Church can help
its solution. The Armenian Apostolic and Armenian Catholic Churches
in Vienna are collaborating. Armenian families need the Church and
attend it regularly."
Preservation of the native language is a vital issue for the Armenian
Diaspora, according to His Reverence Hovakimyan. "Armenian families
do observe national traditions but less and less young people speak
Armenian," he said.
Advisor at the RA Embassy in Austria, Vahan Chakhchyan noted for his
part that the Mekhitarist Catholic Church and St. Hripsime Church
of Holy Ejmiatsin function in Vienna to unite the Armenian community
of Austria.
"Church is a strong link to maintain Armenian identity. In Hovhannes
Shiraz Saturday school people can study the Armenian language,
literature, history or take a course of Armenian dances. Besides,
several benevolent organizations organize various events to support
Armenian youth. However, the tendency of assimilation is pressing in
all Armenian communities," he said.
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world’s oldest National Church
and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the
first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301
AD, in establishing this church. The Armenian Apostolic Church traces
its origins to the missions of Apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus in
the 1st century.
The official name of the Church is the One Holy Universal Apostolic
Orthodox Armenian Church. The Armenian Apostolic Church is the
central religious authority for the Armenian Orthodox population in
the Republic of Armenia as well as for Armenian Orthodox communities
worldwide. It is headed by a Catholicos. Although it is traditional
in Eastern churches for the supreme head of the church to be named
Patriarch, in the Armenian Apostolic Church hierarchy, the position
of the Catholicos is higher than that of the Patriarch. The Armenian
Apostolic Church presently has two catholicoi (His Holiness Karekin
II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; and Aram I,
Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia), and two patriarchs,
plus Primates, Archbishops and Bishops, lower clergy and laity
serving the church. The Catholicos of All Armenians represents the
centralized authority of the Armenian Church. He is the supreme judge
and the head of the legislative body. He is President of the Supreme
Spiritual Council as well as the College of Bishops. Ordination of
bishops, blessing of Holy Chrism, proclamation of Feasts, invitation
and dismissal of National-Ecclesiastical Assemblies, issuing decrees
concerning the administration of the Armenian Church and establishing
dioceses are part of his responsibilities. Both clergy and lay are
involved in the administrative structure of the Church.
Led by His Holiness Karekin II, the spiritual and administrative work
of the Armenian Church is carried out in the Republic of Armenia in
the areas of Religion, Preparation of Clergy, Christian Education,
Construction of new Churches, Social Services, and Ecumenical
activities. Underneath this administrative structure are the hierarchal
Sees: The Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia located in
Antelias, Lebanon, is a regional See with current jurisdiction of the
Dioceses of Lebanon, Syria and Cyprus as temporarily granted to her by
the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem in 1929, is led by Catholicos
Aram I.
The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem which has jurisdiction over
all of the Holy Lands and the Diocese of Jordan, is led by Patriarch
Archbishop Torgom Manoogian.
The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople and All of Turkey, which
has jurisdiction in the modern day Republic of Turkey, is led by
Patriarch Archbishop Mesrob Mutafyan.
The three historic aforementioned hierarchal sees administer to
the Dioceses under their jurisdiction as they see fit, however,
the supremacy of the Catholicosate of All Armenians in all spiritual
matters remains pre-eminent.
In addition to the responsibilities of overseeing their respective
Dioceses, each hierarchical See, and the Mother See of Holy
Etchmiadzin, has a Monastic Brotherhood.
The Armenian Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church sui
juris in full union with the Roman Catholic Church. It is in full
communion with and accepts the authority of the Pope in Rome as
regulated by Easterncanon law. Since 1749, Armenian Catholic Church
is headquartered at the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate complex in
Bzoummar, Lebanon. After the Armenian Apostolic Church, along with
the rest of Oriental Orthodoxy, formally broke off communion from
the Chalcedonian churches, numerous Armenian bishops made attempts to
restorecommunion with the Catholic Church. In 1195 during the Crusades,
the church of the Armeniankingdom of Cilicia entered into a union with
the Catholic Church which lasted until Cilicia was conquered by the
Mamluks in 1375. The union was later re-established during the Council
of Florence in 1439, but did not have any real effects for centuries
In 1740, Abraham-Pierre I Ardzivian, who had earlier become a Catholic,
was elected as the patriarch of Sis. Two years later Pope Benedict XIV
formally established the Armenian Catholic Church. The headquarters
of the patriarchate was later moved to Antelias, north of Beirut. In
1749, the Armenian Catholic Church built a convent in Bzoummar,
Lebanon. During the horrific Armenian genocide in 1915-1918 the Church
scattered among neighboring countries, mainly Lebanon and Syria.
The Armenian Catholic Church can also refer to the church formed by
Armenians living in Poland in 1620 after the union of Leopolis by
MikoÅ~Baj (Nicholas) Torosowicz, which has since established bonds
with the older Armenian Catholic Church. The church which had been
historically centered in Galicia as well as in thepre-1939 Polish
borderlands in the east, now has two primary centers; one in Gdansk,
and the other in Gliwice. A number of its members migrated to Sweden,
which holds its own chapter.
The Armenian Catholic Patriarchate of the See of Cilicia is
the top authority of the Armenian Catholic Church headed by a
Catholicos-Patriarch. The present head is Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni.
Today there are sizeable Armenian Catholic communities in Argentina,
Armenia, Australia, Canada, France, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Romania
and the United States.