Who are Armenians by religion. The official religion of the inhabitants of Armenia

Are Armenians Catholic or Orthodox? or who in general?

1. Heretics - because they are Monophysites. They did not accept the decisions of the Holy Council of Chalcedon and went into schism. Dissenters. But Christians, as well as Copts, are still Monophysites.
2. We have our own faith.
   Armenian Apostolic Church. (In a word, most Gregorians, but with slightly different customs)
   ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH, one of the oldest Christian churches, adheres to the Monophysite direction of Christianity (See Classification of Religions).

   The members of this church are usually referred to as Armenian Gregorians. The last name is due to the fact that Grigor the Illuminator (c. 240-332) is considered the founder of the Armenian Apostolic Church, who converted the king of Armenia Tiridates III to Christianity in 301 (according to legend, the first Christians appeared in Armenia as early as 34, after visiting this country by the apostle Thaddeus , however, reliable information about Armenian Christians dates back to the 2nd century). BUT

   Armenia became the first country in the world where Christianity was declared the state religion. At the beginning of the 5th c. Monk Mesrop Mashtots, together with Catholicos Sahak, translated the Bible into Armenian (apparently from Old Syriac). The independent Armenian-Gregorian Church, which rejected the decrees of the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon, has existed since 506.

   The doctrine of the Armenian Apostolic Church is similar to the doctrine of other Monophysite churches. The Armenian Gregorians adopt the decisions of the first three ecumenical councils, but do not recognize the decisions of the subsequent ones.

3. I don't know who all Armenians consider themselves to be? I consider myself Orthodox!
4. The Orthodox and Catholic Church does not accept them as Christians.
   the gregorian faith is different from the christian faith
5. The most correct answer was given by the one who wrote that the majority of Armenians belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, there are Armenians and Orthodox Christians, and there are also Catholics. I, myself an Armenian Catholic, baptized in the Catholic Church (and my parents, and grandparents, and further up the tree were all Catholics), as well as Armenian Orthodox, baptized in Orthodox churches. Both Catholics and Orthodox are CHRISTIAN!)
6. Armenians have their own CATHOLIKOS... So figure out who they are
7. After a new invasion of their country by the Persians in 428 and the inclusion of Armenia in the Persian region, the supreme patriarch Isaac the Great (378-439) makes efforts to create external resistance to the occupation of foreigners, strengthening the spirit and self-consciousness of the Armenians through church reforms. Especially protection was shown through Mesrob Mashtots, who created the Armenian alphabet of 36 letters, and thus the foundation for the development of Armenian philology was laid.
   Mesrob, the creator of the national language of Armenians, later became the Catholicos (Patriarch) of Armenia. He translated the Holy Scriptures and the Church Fathers, mainly from the Greek and Syriac originals. Mesrob died in 440, 11 years before the IV Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon, which contains a creed that establishes a separation between the relations between the Armenian Church and the Orthodox Church.
   In connection with the enslavement of Armenia by the Persians 42 isolation and influence of the Syrian bishops. For reasons beyond their control, they could not arrive at the IV Ecumenical Council and they were not even informed in time for the same reasons, and they either stood in a pose of stubbornness, or, due to human weakness, were simply offended that without their presence they accepted dogmas. Most likely, the behind-the-scenes policy is not God's will, Satan held back.
   Syria and Palestine were at that time a breeding ground for all sorts of heresies. Mohammed did not assimilate the teachings, but picked up fragmentary knowledge from all the rumors of heresies, and it turned out that he came out of the VZ with suggestions from outside.
   The Armenians are an ancient long-suffering people, but in recent times the mentality has been influenced by the Islamic - Arab persuasion.
   It is quite possible that they will re-realize the fact of dogma and union with the Orthodox Church, the contradictions were papal, which was rejected by the Orthodox Church in the XII century (including Russia, baptized much later than Armenia in 988) Katoloks - in the sense of the primate.
8. ... they are Orthodox of a special kind .... they have their own rules in faith ....
9. Armenians in their absolute majority profess Christianity of the monophysical sense and belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church (A. A. Ts.). There are Catholics among the Armenians. Orthodox in Russia and Georgia, evangelists appeared in Armenia. More than 1 million hidden Armenians professing Islam live in Turkey, some of whom have returned to Christianity in recent years. In the north-east of Turkey, there is a large group of Hemshil Armenians who converted to Islam in the 16th century, but they consider themselves Armenians. According to the census conducted by the initiative group of Hemshils, there were more than 3 million Hemshiles Armenians in Turkey.
10. we are catholic
11. Armenian Church - AAC (Armenian Apostolic Church) - Armenians Monophysite apostles. but more than 1 million Catholic Armenians and more than 1.2 million Orthodox eat. The data is inaccurate.

Armenia is a Christian country. The national church of the Armenian people is the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC), which is approved at the state level. The Constitution of Armenia guarantees freedom of religion for national minorities living in Armenia: Muslims, Jews, Orthodox, Catholics, Protestants, Assyrians, Yezidis, Greeks and Molokans.

Religion of the Armenian people

Questions such as “what faith do Armenians belong to” or “what is the religion of Armenians” can be answered: the religion of Armenians is Christian, and according to faith, the Armenians are divided into:

• followers of the apostolic church;
• Catholics;
• Protestants;
• followers of Byzantine Orthodoxy.

Why did it happen? This is a historical fact. In ancient times, Armenia was sometimes under the rule of Rome, then Byzantium, which affected the religion of the people - their faith gravitated towards Catholic and Byzantine Christianity, and the Crusades brought Protestantism to Armenia.

Armenian Church

The Spiritual Center of the AAC is located in Etchmiadzin with:

Permanent residence of the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians;

the main cathedral;

Spiritual Academy.

The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church is the supreme spiritual head of all believing Armenians with full authority to govern the Armenian Church. He is the defender and follower of the faith of the Armenian Church, the guardian of its unity, traditions and canons.

The AAC has three hierarchal departments:

• Jerusalem Patriarchate;
• Patriarchate of Constantinople;
• Cilician Catholicosate.

Canonically they are under the jurisdiction Etchmiadzin administratively have internal autonomy.

Jerusalem Patriarchate

The Jerusalem Patriarchate (The Apostolic See of St. James in Jerusalem) with the residence of the Armenian Patriarch in the Cathedral of St. James is located in the old city in Jerusalem. All Armenian churches in Israel and Jordan are under his control.

The Armenian, Greek and Latin Patriarchates have the right to own certain parts of the Holy Land's Holy Sites, for example, in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, The Armenian Patriarchate owns a dissected column.

Patriarchate of Constantinople

The Patriarchate of Constantinople was founded in 1461. The residence of the Patriarch of Constantinople is located in Istanbul. Opposite the residence stands the Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God - the main spiritual center of the Constantinople Patriarchate of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

All parishes are subject to him Armenian Patriarchy in Turkey and on the island of Crete. He performs not only church duties, but also secular ones - he represents the interests of the Armenian community before the Turkish authorities.

Cilician Catholicosate

The residence of the Cilician Catholicosate (Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia) is located in Lebanon in the city of Antelias. The Great House of Cilicia was created in 1080 with the emergence of the Armenian Cilician state. He stayed there until 1920. After the massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, the Catholicosate wandered for 10 years, and in 1930 finally settled in Lebanon. The Catholicosate of Cilicia is in charge of the dioceses of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Cyprus, the countries of the Persian Gulf, Greece, the USA and Canada.

The seat of the Cilician Catholicosate is the Cathedral of St. Gregory the Illuminator.

History of religion in Armenia

The history of the formation of Christianity in Armenia covered with legends, which are historical facts and have documented evidence.

Abgar V Ukkama

The rumor about Christ and his amazing healing abilities reached the Armenians during the earthly life of Christ. A legend has been preserved that the Armenian king of the state of Osroene with the capital of Edessa (4 BC - 50 AD), Abgar V Ukkama (Black), fell ill with leprosy. He sent with a letter to Christ court archivist Ananias. He asked Christ to come and heal him. The king instructed Ananias, who was a good artist, to paint Christ in case Christ refused the request.

Ananias handed a letter to Christ, he wrote an answer in which he explained that he himself would not be able to come to Edessa, since the time had come for him to fulfill That for which he was sent; at the end of his work, he will send one of his disciples to Abgar. Ananias took Christ's letter, climbed a high stone and began to draw Christ standing in a crowd of people.

Christ noticed this and asked why he was painting him. He replied that at the request of his king, then Christ asked to bring him water, washed himself and put a handkerchief to his wet face: a Miracle happened - the Face of Christ was imprinted on the handkerchief and the people saw it. He gave the handkerchief to Ananias and told him to hand it along with the letter to the king.

The king, having received a letter and a “not made by hands” Face, was almost healed. After Pentecost, the Apostle Thaddeus came to Edessa, completed the healing of Abgar, and Abgar converted to Christianity. "Miraculous" Face The Savior was placed in a niche above the city gates.

After the healing, Abgar sent letters to his relatives, in which he spoke about the miracle of healing, about other miracles that the Face of the Savior continued to work and urged them to accept Christianity.

Christianity did not last long in Osroene. Three years later, the king of Abgar died. During these years, almost the entire population of Osroene was converted to Christianity.

The name of Abgar V entered Christianity as the first ruler of the Christian state of the apostolic times, equated to the saints and is mentioned by priests during festive services:

• on the feast of the Transfer of the Image Not Made by Hands;
• on the day of memory of the Holy Apostle Thaddeus;
• on the day of memory of St. Abgar, the first king who believed in Jesus Christ.

The mission of the Apostle Thaddeus in Osroene lasted from 35 to 43 AD. The Vatican has a piece of ancient canvas on which this story is told.

After the death of Abgar V, the throne was taken by his relative, Sanatruk I. Having ascended the throne, he returned Osroene to paganism, but promised the citizens not to persecute Christians.

He did not keep his promise: the persecution of Christians began; all the male offspring of Abgar was exterminated; a heavy lot fell to the share of the Apostle Thaddeus and the daughter of Sanatruk, Sandukht, who were executed together.

Then Osroene was introduced into the Greater Armenia, which was ruled by Sanatruk I from 91 to 109.

In the year 44, the Apostle Bartholomew arrived in Armenia. His mission in Armenia lasted from 44 to 60 years. He spread the teachings of Christ and converted Armenians to Christianity, including many courtiers, as well as the king's sister, Vogui. Sanatruk was merciless, he continued to exterminate Christians. By his order, the apostle Bartholomew and Vogui were executed.

It was not possible to completely exterminate Christianity in Armenia. Since then, the Armenian Christian faith has been called “apostolic” in memory of Thaddeus and Bartholomew, who brought Christianity to Armenia back in the 1st century.

Armenian King Khosrov

King Khosrov ruled Armenia in the middle of the 2nd century. He was strong and smart: he defeated external enemies, expanded the borders of the state, and stopped internal strife.

But this did not suit the Persian king at all. In order to capture Armenia, he organized a palace conspiracy and the treacherous murder of the king. The dying king ordered to catch and kill all those who participated in the conspiracy, as well as their families. The murderer's wife fled to Rome with her young son Gregory.

The Persian king did not limit himself to the murder of Khosrov, he decided to exterminate his family as well. To save Khosrov's son, Trdat, he was also taken to Rome. And the Persian king achieved his goal and captured Armenia.

Grigory and Trdat

Years later, Gregory learns the truth about his father and decides to atone for his sin - he entered the service of Trdat and began to serve him. Despite the fact that Gregory was a Christian and Trdat was a pagan, he became attached to Gregory, and Gregory was his faithful servant and adviser.

In 287, the Roman emperor Diakletian sent Trdat to Armenia with an army to drive out the Persians. So Trdat III became the king of Armenia, and Armenia returned to the jurisdiction of Rome.

During the years of his reign, following the example of Diocletian, Trdat persecuted Christians and dealt cruelly with them. A brave warrior named George, who was canonized as a saint under the name George the Victorious, also fell into this vent. But Trdat did not touch his servant.

Once, when everyone was praising the pagan goddess, Trdat ordered Grigory to join the action, but he publicly refused. Trdat had to give the order to seize Gregory and return him to paganism by force; he did not want to kill his servant. But there were "well-wishers" who told Trdat who Gregory was. Trdat was furious, subjected Gregory to torment, and then ordered to be thrown into Khor Virap (deep pit), where they threw malicious enemies of the state, did not feed, did not drink, but left there until their death.

After 10 years, Trdat fell ill with an unknown disease. The best doctors from all over the world tried to treat him, but to no avail. Three years later, his sister had a dream in which the Voice ordered her to release Gregory. She told her brother about this, but he decided that she had lost her mind, since the pit had not been opened for 13 years, and it was impossible for Grigory to remain alive.

But she insisted. They opened the pit and saw Gregory, withered, barely breathing, but alive (later it turned out that one Christian woman, through a hole in the ground, lowered water to him and threw bread). Gregory was pulled out, they informed him about the illness of the king, and Gregory began to heal Trdat with prayers. The news of the king's healing spread like lightning.

Adoption of Christianity

After the cure, Trdat believed in the healing power of Christian prayers, converted to Christianity himself, spread this faith throughout the country, and began to build Christian churches in which priests served. Gregory was given the title "Illuminator" and became the first Catholicos of Armenia. The change of religion took place without the overthrow of power and with the preservation of the state culture. This happened in 301. The Armenian faith was called "Gregorianism", the church - "Gregorian", and the followers of the faith - "Gregorians".

The significance of the church in the history of the Armenian people is great. Even at the time of the loss of statehood, the church took upon itself the spiritual leadership of the people and maintained its unity, led the wars of liberation and through its channels established diplomatic relations, opened schools, cultivated self-consciousness and a patriotic spirit among the people.

Features of the Armenian Church

The AAC is different from other Christian churches. It is generally accepted that it refers to monophysitism, recognizing only the divine principle in Christ, while Russian Orthodox - to dyophysitism, recognizing two principles in Christ - human and divine.

The AAC has special rules in observance of rituals:

• baptized from left to right;
• calendar - Julian;
• chrismation is connected with baptism;
• whole wine and unleavened bread are used for communion;
• congregate only clergy;
• Armenian letters are used on icons;
• profess in modern Armenian.

Armenian Church in Russia

Armenians have been living in Russia for many centuries, but they have preserved their cultural values ​​and this is the merit of the Armenian Church. In many cities of Russia there are Armenian churches, where there are Sunday schools, religious and secular events are held. Communication with Armenia is maintained.

The largest Armenian spiritual center in Russia is the new Armenian temple complex in Moscow, where the residence of the Head of the Russian and New Nakhichevan diocese of the AAC (Patriarchal Exarch) is located, as well as the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Lord, made in the style of classical Armenian architecture, decorated with carvings inside on stone and Armenian icons.

The address of the temple complex, phone numbers, schedule of church services and social events can be found by searching: "Armenian Apostolic Church in Moscow official website."

It became the first Christian state in the world.

In the published data of the 2011 Armenian census, 92.6% of the country's population belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, 1.0% of the population belong to the Protestant Armenian Evangelical Church, 0.5% belong to the Armenian Catholic Church, 0.3% belong to the denomination of Jehovah's Witnesses (which differs from both traditional Christian churches and Protestant ones), 0.25% Orthodox, 0.1% belong to the Molokan spiritual Christian denomination, and an unknown number of Christians in the census data are classified as "other" (total 0, 26% of the country's population), which, in addition to Christians, includes Muslims, Jews and a number of other non-Christian religions. Thus, slightly less than 95% of the country's population are Christians.

The Armenian Apostolic Church is among the Oriental Orthodox Churches, which also includes the Coptic, Ethiopian, Eritrean, Syriac and Malankara Orthodox churches.

Among a number of national minorities, there is a high degree of religious assimilation, so 77% of the Greeks of Armenia belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, 57% of Ukrainians, 41% of Russians and Georgians, 34% of Assyrians belong to the same church. There is also a steady trend towards a reduction in the number and proportion of national minorities, which are traditional bearers of those confessions that do not have a traditional distribution among ethnic Armenians.

Yezidism

During the census, the Yezidis were qualified as an independent ethnic group, and their traditional religion in the officially published census materials appears under the name "Sharfadin". Of the 35,308 ethnic Yezidis, 69% (24,518 people) belong to the Sharfanid religion, in addition, 31% of ethnic Kurds (682 people) belong to the Sharfanid religion. In total, 25,204 followers of the Sharfanid religion (0.83% of the country's population) live in Armenia. Yezidis mainly live in the villages of the Ararat Valley, northwest of Yerevan. On September 29, 2012, the Yazidi temple "Ziarat" was solemnly opened in the Armavir region of Armenia. This is the first temple built outside the original homeland of the Yezidis - northern Iraq, designed to meet the spiritual needs of the Yezidis of Armenia.

Judaism

3,000 Jews live in Armenia, mostly in Yerevan.

Islam

Followers of Islam live in Armenia, this religion is practiced by Kurds, Persians, Azerbaijanis and other peoples. There is a mosque in Yerevan for Muslims.

Today in Armenia, the Muslim Kurdish community numbers several hundred people, most of them live in the Abovyan region, a certain number of Muslim Azerbaijanis live near the eastern and northern borders of Armenia in the countryside. About 1,000 Muslims live in Yerevan - Kurds, Persians and immigrants from the Middle East.

Paganism

According to the 2011 census, there are 5,434 followers of paganism in the country. The vast majority of Armenian citizens who are recorded as pagans in the census are ethnic Yezidis (3624 people or 10% of the total number of ethnic Yezidis), as well as ethnic Kurds (half of the total number of ethnic Kurds in Armenia, or 1068 people, are recorded as pagans).

Among ethnic Armenians, 734 people or 0.02% of all ethnic Armenians of the country indicated themselves as pagans. Getanism is a neo-pagan religious movement that recreates the traditional pre-Christian religion of the Armenians. Founded by Armenologist Slak Kakosyan on the basis of the writings of the famous Armenian nationalist Garegin Nzhdeh. Neo-pagan rites are regularly held in the temple of Garni. The head of the pagan communities in Armenia is the priest Zohrab Petrosyan. The exact number of followers is unknown. Armenian neo-paganism has a certain popularity, in particular among supporters of far-right and nationalist movements. Hetanism's followers included prominent Armenian politicians Ashot Navasardyan, founder of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, and Andranik Margaryan, the country's former prime minister.

Freedom of religion in Armenia

official statistics

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An excerpt characterizing Religion in Armenia

Davout was Arakcheev of Emperor Napoleon - Arakcheev is not a coward, but just as serviceable, cruel and incapable of expressing his devotion except by cruelty.
The mechanism of the state organism needs these people, just as wolves are needed in the organism of nature, and they always exist, always appear and hold on, no matter how incongruous their presence and proximity to the head of government may seem. Only this necessity can explain how the cruel, who personally tore out the mustaches of the grenadiers and who could not endure the danger due to weakness of the nerve, the uneducated, uncourt Arakcheev, could hold on to such strength with the chivalrous noble and gentle character of Alexander.
Balashev found Marshal Davout in the barn of a peasant's hut, sitting on a barrel and busy with written work (he checked the scores). The adjutant stood beside him. It was possible to find a better place, but Marshal Davout was one of those people who deliberately put themselves in the most gloomy conditions of life in order to have the right to be gloomy. For the same reason they are always hastily and stubbornly busy. “Where is there to think about the happy side of human life when, you see, I’m sitting on a barrel in a dirty shed and working,” his expression said. The main pleasure and need of these people is that, having met the revival of life, to throw this revival into the eyes of my gloomy, stubborn activity. Davout gave himself this pleasure when Balashev was brought in. He went even deeper into his work when the Russian general entered, and, looking through his glasses at the lively face of Balashev, impressed by the beautiful morning and the conversation with Murat, did not get up, did not even move, but frowned even more and grinned maliciously.
Noticing the unpleasant impression made by this technique on Balashev's face, Davout raised his head and coldly asked what he needed.
Assuming that such a reception could be made to him only because Davout did not know that he was the adjutant general of Emperor Alexander and even his representative before Napoleon, Balashev hastened to announce his rank and appointment. Contrary to his expectations, Davout, after listening to Balashev, became even more severe and rude.
- Where is your package? - he said. - Donnez le moi, ije l "enverrai a l" Empereur. [Give it to me, I will send it to the emperor.]

Speaking about the holidays of Armenians, where national costumes are traditionally present, one cannot fail to mention the musical heritage of this people. Their music is very melodious, because it absorbed not only Middle Eastern motifs, but also took something from the Mediterranean.

A striking example of musical instruments can be considered the Armenian duduk, which many call unique, and those who hear it claim that this is heavenly music. Under such fabulous motives it is impossible to move awkwardly. Therefore, they are always distinguished by extreme harmony and internal aestheticism.

It does not go unnoticed, which, as historians have proven, is one of the oldest in the world. In the gastronomic set of culinary specialists there is always a lot of greens, meat, dairy products. Sweets are widely known, often created only from sugar and flour, but with an indescribable taste.

Other Armenian dishes are no less unique, among which shish kebab is in the first place. It is no coincidence that their restaurants are famous all over the world for their delicious dishes.

What are modern Armenians like?

Armenians are an integral part of modern society. They can equally be attributed to the European and Eastern ethnic groups. To date, their number cannot be accurately calculated, however, according to statistics, there are up to 10 to 12 million representatives of this people in the world. They live in many countries, ranging from Russia to Brazil and Australia. And everywhere they bring a touch of Armenian flavor, which is undoubtedly worthy of respect.

Even jokes about Armenians speak of what an unusual mentality these people have. In numerous literary sources, they appear as a benevolent, brave and cheerful people who can joke, dance, and stand up for their independence if necessary. And the old good-neighborly relations with the Russians have largely become a guarantee that their contribution to Russian and world culture has not gone unnoticed.

So, among those who fought against the fascist aggressors in the Great Patriotic War, there were many Armenian heroes. This is Senior Lieutenant Sergei Burnazyan, Lieutenant Colonel Garnik Vartumyan, Marshal of the Soviet Union Ivan Bagramyan. These are just three names of those representatives of the Armenian people who became Heroes of the Soviet Union. And there were dozens of such people, and thousands more ordinary Armenians, along with Russians, Belarusians, Georgians, fought for a common homeland.

There are no less of those who are among the symbols of world culture and sports. Among the most famous Armenians are film director Sergei Parajanov, actors Dmitry Kharatyan and writer William Saroyan, football player, chess player, singer Bulat Okudzhava (the last names of both are on the maternal side). These and many other people have contributed to the development of modern civilization.

They really gave a lot not only to those peoples, next to which they were historically forced to live, but also to the entire world community. Today, they supplement the commonality of the Caucasian ethnic groups in a special way, preserving their originality and at the same time remaining a people, genetically whole. The Armenian diasporas that exist all over the world only confirm this.

Many people from school know about the split of Christianity into Catholicism and Orthodoxy, as this is included in the course of history. From it we know about some of the differences between these churches, the prerequisites that led to the division, and the consequences of this division. But few people know what are the features of many other types of Christianity, which, for various reasons, separated from the two main currents. One of the churches that are close in spirit to the Orthodox, but at the same time, are completely separate, is the Armenian Apostolic Church.

The Orthodox Church is the second largest branch of Christianity after Catholicism. Despite the frequent misconception, the split of Christianity into Catholicism and Orthodoxy, although it has been brewing since the 5th century A.D. e., occurred only in 1054.


The unofficial division of spheres of influence led to the emergence of two large regions of Europe, which, due to religious differences, took different paths of development. The Balkans and Eastern Europe, including Russia, fell into the sphere of influence of the Orthodox Church.

The Armenian Apostolic Church arose much earlier than the Orthodox. So, already in the year 41, it acquired some autonomy (an autocephalous Armenian church), and officially separated in 372 due to the rejection of the Chalcedon Ecumenical Council. Notably, this schism was the first major division in Christianity.

As a result of the Chalcedon Cathedral, four more churches stood out along with the Armenian one. Five of these churches are geographically located in Asia and northeast Africa. Subsequently, during the spread of Islam, these churches were isolated from the rest of the Christian world, which led to even greater differences between them and the Chalcedonian churches (Orthodoxy and Catholicism).


An interesting fact is that the Armenian Apostolic Church became the state religion as early as 301, that is, it is the first official state religion in the world.

Common features

Despite such an early separation from the united Christian movement, there has always been a cultural exchange between the Armenian and Orthodox churches. This is due to the fact that the partial isolation of Armenia during the spread of Islam separated it from a significant part of the Christian world. The only "window to Europe" remained through Georgia, which by that time had already become an Orthodox state.

Thanks to this, one can find some common features in the vestments of clergymen, the arrangement of temples, and in some cases architecture.

Difference

Nevertheless, it makes no sense to talk about the relationship between the Orthodox and Armenian churches. It is worth at least remembering the fact that the Orthodox Church in our time is very heterogeneous in its internal structure. So very authoritative, practically independent of the Ecumenical Patriarch (the formal head of the Orthodox Church), is the Russian Orthodox, Jerusalem, Antioch, Ukrainian churches.

The Armenian Apostolic Church is one, even despite the presence of the autocephalous Armenian Church, because it recognizes the patronage of the head of the Apostolic Church.

From here you can immediately go to the question of the leadership of these two churches. So the head of the Orthodox Church is the Patriarch of Constantinople, and the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church is the Supreme Patriarch and the Catholicos of all Armenians.

The presence of completely different titles for the heads of the church indicates that these are completely different institutions.

It is impossible not to note the difference in the traditional architecture of these two churches. Thus, Armenian cathedrals imagine the continuation and further development of the traditional oriental school of construction. This was largely influenced not only by cultural background, but also by climate and basic building materials. Armenian churches, which were built in the Middle Ages, as a rule, are squat and have thick walls (the reason for this was that they were often fortifications).

Although Orthodox churches are not an example of European culture, they look completely different from Armenian ones. They usually stretch upwards, their domes are traditionally gilded.

Ceremonies differ radically, as well as the time of holidays and fasts at these churches. So, the Armenian rite has a national language, sacred books. It accepts a different number of people than in the Orthodox. Remarkably, the latter still does not have such a connection with the people, which is primarily due to the language of worship.

Finally, the most important difference, which was the reason for the Chalcedonian schism. The Armenian Apostolic Church is of the opinion that Jesus Christ is one person, that is, he has a single nature. In the Orthodox tradition, it has a dual nature - it combines both God and man.

These differences are so significant that these churches considered each other as heretical teachings, and mutual anathemas were imposed. Positive changes were achieved only in 1993, when representatives of both churches signed an agreement.

Thus, the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Orthodox Church have the same origins, and also differ to a lesser extent from each other than the Armenian from the Catholic or the Catholic from the Orthodox, in fact, they are different and completely independent spiritual institutions.