Church in Armenia – divisions and striving for unity

Abstract

The hundredth anniversary of extermination of the Armenians celebrated in the year 2015 contributed to a greater interest not only to Armenia and Armenians but also to the history of the Armenian Church. This article outlines briefly geographical and historical background of Armenia in order to show complex image of the country which as the first in the history adopted the Christian faith as an official religion. Through the centuries we note many divisions inside this church because of theological differences as well as geographical reasons. As a result the Armenian Apostolic Church did not accept the supremacy of the pope. Although the dialogue with the Armenians continued from the twelfth century, it was not until the seventeenth century when a group of Armenians recognizing the primacy of the Pope established the Catholic Church of the Armenian rite. The twentieth century brought initiatives from the part of Rome as well as from the Armenians to unite the Armenian Apostolic Church and to bring all Armenians to the unity with Rome and the Pope. The element that aid the unity is the common remembrance of the Armenian genocide committed by the Turks in 1915–1916.