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==History==
===Christianity in Armenia===
Tradition tells us that the Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew first brought Christianity to the land of the Armenians in the first century. However, it would not be for about 200 more years that Armenia would become the first country to adopt [[Christianity]] as a state religion, in AD 301, when St. [[Gregory the Enlightener|Gregory the Illuminator]], a missionary from [[Caesarea]], converted the king of Armenia, Trdat IV, to Christianity. In time, St. Gregory was sent back to Caesarea to be elevated to the [[bishops|episcopate]] and returned to Armenia as the first '''[[Catholicos]]''' (or "universal" bishop of an area). Gregory's son, Aristakes, attended the First [[Ecumenical Council]] at [[First Ecumenical Council|Nicea]] in AD 325.
In addition to the obvious spiritual benefits which resulted from the "baptism" of Armenia, this conversion aided in unifying various ethnic groups into a cohesive Armenian identity. The Armenian Church was instrumental in the early missions to neighboring [[Church of Georgia|Georgia]] and [[Caucasian Albania]].
===The Council of Chalcedon===
==Leadership==
The hierarch of the Armenian Church is the '''Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of ArmeniaAll Armenians'''. The current Catholicos is Garegin II, who resides in at the city Holy See of Echmiadzin, west of Yerevan. However, a minority of the church has recognized instead outside Armenia is under the jurisdiction of the Catholicos of Cilicia, who resides in Antilyas Antilias in Lebanon, as a result of a dispute that emerged while Armenia was under Communist rule.
==Armenian Christianity Outside of Armenia==
==Resources==
*''[http://www.stvartanbookstore.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=5169&HS=1 Frequently Asked Questions About the Armenian Church]'' by Fr. Krikor Maksoudian
* ''[http://www.stvartanbookstore.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=5166&HS=1 Feasts and Saints of the Armenian ChuchChurch]'' by Patriarch Torkom Koushagian
==Sources==
==External links==
* [http://www.armenianchurch.org/ The Armenian Church - The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin]* [http://www.armenianchurchwd.com/ Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America]* [http://www.armenianchurch.net/ Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America]* [http://www.stnersess.edu/ St. Nersess Armenian Seminary]* [http://www.stvartanbookstore.com/ St. Vartan Bookstore]* [http://www.cnewa.org/ecc-bodypg-us.aspx?eccpageID=5&IndexView=toc Eastern Christian Churches: Armenian Apostolic Church] by Ronald Roberson, a Roman Catholic priest and scholar* [http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Armenian_Apostolic_Church Armeniapedia - Armenian Apostolic Church]* [[Wikipedia:Armenian Apostolic Church]]
[[Category:Jurisdictions|Armenia]]
[[Category: Schisms]]
[[Category:Oriental Orthodox|Armenia]]
[[ar:الكنيسة الأرمنية]]
[[fr:Église d'Arménie]]
[[ro:Biserica Armeniei]]