Armenian Catholicossate of Cilicia, Antelias

On December 8, 2009, Dean Sabra's 'Contemporary Eastern Churches' class took a field trip to the headquarters of the Armenian Orthodox Church in Lebanon. We visited with Bishop Nareg Alemezian who is responsible for ecumenical & inter-religious affairs for the Catholicossate. 


There are over 7 million Armenian Orthodox Christians worldwide with 3 million in the independent nation of Armenia (formerly part of the USSR). Over populations include:


Lebanon: 150,000
Syria: 75,000
Israel & Occupied Palestinian Territories: 15,000
Iraq: before US invasion: 25 - 30,000, now down to 10,000
Iran: 150,000 (the largest non-Muslim population group in Iran)
Turkey: 80-85,000
USA: 1,500,000 with largest group in California
Europe: 1,000,000
Canada: 100,00
S. America: 150,000


The Armenian Orthodox Church or Apostolic Church is part of the family of Oriental Orthodox churches. The trace their roots to St. Gregory the Illuminator. Their apostolic origins go back to  2 of Jesus' disciples: Thaddeus and Bartholomew who, they claim, preached in Armenia in the first century CE. In Iran there were monasteries founded in the names of both Apostles. Today 90% of all persons of Armenian descent are Armenian Orthodox, 5% are Armenian Catholics, and 5% are Evangelical Armenians (including both some faculty and students at NEST). 


The Church has four hierarchical centers: two catholicossates and two patriarchs (one in Jerusalem and one in Istanbul, Turkey). The title of 'patriarch' covers a local jurisdiction and is an honorary title. 


Turkey once was home to a very large Armenian community that was massacred and exiled from many dioceses. These Armenians relocated to the country now called Armenia, to Lebanon, and other nations. There is a Catholicossate in Armenia (close to the city of Yeribin <sp?>) and the one we visited in Beirut. From the tenth century CE to 1915, there was a Catholicossate in Turkey whose surviving members were relocated to Lebanon, Cyprus, and Aleppo, Syria after the genocide. 


The Near East Relief Foundation (a Protestant mission) opened its buildings to begin an Armenian orphanage after the genocide, and eventually gave these buildings to refound the Catholicossate of Cilicia in Beirut. There the Armenian Orthodox Church opened a seminary (which moved higher up on Mount Lebanon in the 1970s or '80s). They opened a publishing house that still is housed here. This Catholicossate on property originally purchased by Protestants became the administrative center of the global Armenian diaspora. 


There are 13 worldwide dioceses under the direction of the Catholicossate in Beirut. It fulfills spiritual, cultural, educational, & social needs and provides political support to Armenians in many lands. For Armenians, the church is both the spiritual and cultural home of their global community. It is the center of social, educational, and ecclesial life. People participate in church activities every day of the week through schools and community centers. The Catholicossate holds annual gatherings of Armenian intellectuals, is a pedagogical center for Sunday and parochial schools, distributes monthly publications, & hosts a website. They run a boarding school in Byblos, Lebanon that began as Bird's Nest Armenian orphanage.  


A brotherhood of 45 Armenian celibate clergy (including 15 monks and five bishops) live at the center and the Catholicos serves as their abbot. Their polity is more democratic than authoritarian (so the Catholicos doesn't have the authority of the Pope). Decisions are made in a horizontal rather than hierarchical structure with lay participation in decision-making. Their church councils are constituted 70% laity and 30% clergy. Youth, women and men are included in the delegates of their general assembly. Their executive committee is made up of 11 lay people who control administration and finances, and 11 celibate clergy over religious and spiritual life.


Their church used to have active monasteries in the classical mode but this is no longer the case. Monks are now located in their administrative centers in Beirut, Jerusalem, Istanbul, and Armenia. Their daily prayers begin at 5 AM, and later they celebrate the Eucharist in a service open to lay participation from the neighborhood. Their Church recognizes 7 sacraments. 


Their Church is a bridge-building institution between Christians around the world and between Christians and Muslims. They are an ecumenically open and accommodating Church. They are members of the World Council of Churches and the Middle East Council of Churches. They welcome any person baptized with water in a historical church in the triune Name (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) into their services. If such persons join their Church, they are not rebaptized. 


We toured the many buildings of the Catholicossate which include a beautiful sanctuary, a grim memorial (including skeletal remains) to the victims of the Armenian genocide in Turkey during WWI, a beautiful museum of liturgical artifacts and manuscripts that were rescued from Turkey and brought to Lebanon, and other meeting space.


We discussed Turkey today with Bishop Alemezian, and how the Armenian Orthodox Church continues to survive in the Middle East and globally. His commitment to ecumenical and inter-religious work which began when he was a priest in Vancouver, Canada, was outstanding.