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{{oriental}} The '''Armenian Catholicosate Catholicate of the Great House of Cilicia''' is an autonomous [[jurisdiction]] of the [[Church of Armenia|Armenian Orthodox Church]].
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== Early History =={{stub}}The Armenian Orthodox Church as a whole was established through the preaching of the Holy Apostles [[Apostle Jude|Thaddeus]] and [[Apostle Bartholomew|Bartholomew]] in Armenia and the conversion of the Armenian nation in 301 thanks to the witness of St. [[Gregory the Enlightener|Gregory the Illuminator]]. St. Gregory became the first [[Catholicos]] of Echmiadzin and All the Armenians. Over the following centuries the Orthodox Faith became firmly implanted throughout Armenia, with the catholicoses leading the Church of Armenia from Holy Echmiadzin. As the Armenian capital shifted, however, so too did the seat of the catholicate, moving first in 483 to Dvin and then in the 900s to Dzoravank, Aghtamar, Arghina, and Ani. ==Move of the Catholicate to Cilicia==In 1045 the city of Ani and with it the kingdom of Armenia fell to the Seljuk Turks, with much of the Armenian nation fleeing their from homelands in eastern Anatolia and resettling in Cilicia. The Catholicate moved with the nation, settling first in Thavblour in 1062 and then in Dzamendav (in 1072), Dzovk (in 1116), Hromkla (in 1149), and Sis (in 1293), where it remained for nearly 700 years. The early Cilician period of the Armenian Orthodox Church was a fruitful period, witnessing the establishment of a new Armenian kingdom of Cilicia and the ecumenical dialogues between the Roman Emperor Manuel Comnenus and the Catholicoses Krikor (Gregory) III, [[Nerses the Gracious|Nerses IV]], and Krikor IV. After the fall of Armenian Cilicia in 1375 the catholicoses became the ethnarchs of the Armenian nation, assuming civil as well as ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the Armenians of Cilicia.
== Leadership Establishment of Two Catholicates==Following the fall of Armenian Cilicia the region became a battleground between the Seljuk Turks, the Mamelukes, and other Muslim powers. In the meantime Armenia itself had become relatively peaceful again and many Armenians began returning to their homelands. This return of the 'center of gravity' of the Armenian nation to Armenia eventually prompted the bishops there to elect a Catholicos of Echmiadzin and All the Armenians in 1441. Since that time the Armenian Orthodox Church has been led by two catholicoses, one with a primacy of honor in Echmiadzin and another in Cilicia with equal rights and privileges as the Catholicos of Echmiadzin.
==External Links==
*[http://www.armenianorthodoxchurch.org/ Armenian Orthodox Church of Cilicia] (Official Website)
*[http://www.periotem.com/ Diocese of Aleppo] (Official Website)
*[http://www.armenianprelacy.gr/ Diocese of Greece] (Official Website)
*[http://www.armprelacylb.org Diocese of Lebanon] (Official Website)
*[http://www.armenianprelacy.ca/ Prelacy of Canada] (Official Website)
*[http://www.armenianprelacy.org/index.htm Prelacy of the Eastern United States] (Official Website)
*[http://www.westernprelacy.org/ Prelacy of the Western United States] (Official Website)
[[Categoryro:Oriental Orthodox|Catolicatul din Cilicia]]