The Armenian Religion

The Armenian Apostolic Church is one of the oldest branches of Christianity. According to tradition, two of the Christ's Apostles - St. Thaddeus and St. Bartholomew - preached the Gospel in Armenia as early as the first half of the 1st Century. In the early 4th century, St. Gregory the Illuminator (c. 235 - 240 A.D) formally established the Church in Armenia, when King Tiridates III was baptized and declared Christianity for the first time as a state religion in 301 A.D.

The Christianisation of Armenia determined the entire future course of Armenian history. In order to make the Christian faith accessible to the Armenian people in a written form, a monk by the name of Mesrob Mashdots created the Armenian alphabet in 406 A.D. Soon after, the Holy Scriptures were translated into Armenian, followed by the biblical, theological and liturgical writings of the eminent Church Fathers. This is the most important era known as the Golden Age of Armenian history.

The Faith of the Armenian Church is transmitted through the church's Holy Tradition. The Bible, Liturgy and worship, writings of the Church Fathers, Church Coucils, saints, canons, religious art and rituals - organically linked together - formulate the Holy Tradition of the Church. This faith is articualted in the Creed of the Armenian Church.

The Chief Bishop and Supreme Head of the Armenian Church is the Catholicos of All Armenians, who resides in Holy Etchmiadzin, near Armenia's capital Yerevan. A National Ecclesiastical Assembly, consisting of clergy and lay representatives of the Armenian churches from around the world, elects the Catholicos. There are four hierarchal Sees in the Armenian Church: the Catholicossate of All Armenians in Holy Etchmiadzin; the Catholicossate of the Great House of Cilicia; the Patriarchate of Jerusalem; and the Patriarchate of Constantinople.