Church important for maintenance of Armenian identity

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 Mikołaj (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.