Armenian Apostolic Church

The Armenian Apostolic Holy Church is one of the oldest national Christian churches in the world, belonging to the family of Eastern Orthodox (Old Eastern) churches. It was founded in the 1st century by two apostles of Christ, Thaddeus and Bartholomew, who were the first to preach Christianity in Armenia and were martyred here, which is why the church is called "Apostolic." In 301, during the reign of King Tiridates III and through the preaching of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, Christianity was proclaimed as the state religion in Armenia, marking the first such occurrence in world history. From a doctrinal perspective, the Armenian Church relies on the decisions of the first three ecumenical councils (Nicaea, Constantinople, and Ephesus). In the church councils of Dvin in 506 and 555, the Armenian Church officially rejected the formulations of the Council of Chalcedon of 451, accepting the Christological formula of Saint Cyril of Alexandria regarding the inseparable union of Christ's divine and human natures, thereby definitively distinguishing itself from the Byzantine and Roman ecclesiastical systems. The highest governing body of the church is the Catholicosate of All Armenians, whose seat has been the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin since its founding. The episcopal structure also includes three other independent sees that recognize the spiritual authority of the Catholicos of All Armenians: these are the Catholicosate of Cilicia (seat in Antelias, Lebanon), the Armenian