Catholicos of All Armenians

The Catholicos of All Armenians (plural Catholicoi, due to its Greek origin) (Armenian: Ամենայն հայոց կաթողիկոսներ) is the chief bishop and spiritual leader of Armenia's national church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, and the worldwide Armenian diaspora. According to tradition, the apostles Saint Thaddeus and Saint Bartholomew brought Christianity to Armenia in the first century. Saint Gregory the Illuminator became the first Catholicos of All Armenians following the nation's adoption of Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD. The seat of the Catholicos, and the spiritual and administrative headquarters of the Armenian Church, is the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, located in the city of Vagharshapat.

The Armenian Apostolic Church is part of the Oriental Orthodox communion that do not subscribe to the Christological formulas of the Council of Chalcedon. It includes the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

Armenians

Armenians (Armenian: հայեր, hayer [hɑˈjɛɾ]) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian Highlands.

Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. There is a wide-ranging diaspora of around 5 million people of full or partial Armenian ancestry living outside of modern Armenia. The largest Armenian populations today exist in Russia, the United States, France, Georgia, Iran, Ukraine, Lebanon, and Syria. With the exceptions of Iran and the former Soviet states, the present-day Armenian diaspora was formed mainly as a result of the Armenian Genocide.

Most Armenians adhere to the Armenian Apostolic Church, a non-Chalcedonian church, which is also the world's oldest national church. Christianity began to spread in Armenia soon after Jesus' death, due to the efforts of two of his apostles, St. Thaddeus and St. Bartholomew. In the early 4th century, the Kingdom of Armenia became the first state to adopt Christianity as a state religion.

His Holiness

His Holiness is a style and form of address (in the variant form Your Holiness) for supreme religious leaders, most notably the Pope.

Christian churches

His Holiness (Latin: Sanctitas) is the official style used to address the Roman Catholic Pope and the Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, as head of the Orthodox community. In February 2013, the Holy See announced that former Pope Benedict XVI would retain the style "His Holiness" after resigning and becoming Pope Emeritus.

The term is sometimes abbreviated or "HH" or "H.H." when confusion with "His/Her Highness" is unlikely. The associated form of address is "Your Holiness".

It is also used for certain other Eastern Patriarchs, notably those who head a church or rite which recognizes neither Rome's nor Constantinople's primacy, notably any Catholicos of the East.

Other religions

The English language honorific "His Holiness", and as female version "Her Holiness", has commonly been used for religious leaders from other traditions, including Buddhism (notably for the Dalai Lama), Shinto and in Ahmadiyya Islam for the Caliph.

Karekin II

Catholicos Karekin II (Armenian: Գարեգին Բ) (born August 21, 1951) is the current Catholicos of All Armenians, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Biography

Karekin II was born as Ktrij Nersessian in Voskehat, Armenia, on August 21, 1951. He entered the Gevorkian Theological Seminary at Echmiadzin in 1965 and graduated with honors in 1971. He was ordained to the diaconate in 1970. Later he became a monk and was ordained a priest in 1972. In the late 1970s the Catholicos of that period encouraged him to study outside of Armenia. This led to him continuing his studies in Vienna, Bonn University, and Zagorsk, Russia. On October 23, 1983, he was consecrated bishop at Echmiadzin. He became an archbishop in 1992.

Karekin II speaks fluent German from his time in Germany and Austria. In 1975 during his time in Cologne he was the spiritual representative of nine Armenian congregations in Germany.

In 1988 Karekin took an active role in helping his people overcome the Armenian earthquake. He oversaw the construction of a number of churches and schools in Armenia. He also showed an interest in using modern technology and telecommunications to help the life of his churches as well as dealing with the legacies of the Soviet era.

Sangharaja

Sangharaja (Pāli: sangha religious community + raja ruler, king, or prince) is the title given in many Theravada Buddhist countries to a senior monk who is the titular head either of a monastic fraternity (nikaya), or of the Sangha throughout the country. This term is often rendered in English as 'Patriarch' or 'Supreme Patriarch'.

Overview

The position of sangharaja has been assigned according to various methods in different countries and time periods. In some cases, the sangharaja is determined by absolute monastic seniority; the sangharaja is the monk who has spent the most rains retreats (vassa) as a monk. In other cases, royal appointment may play a role- the sangharaja may be appointed by the king, particularly in Southeast Asian countries where the monarchy is closely associated with Buddhism (Thailand, for example). Alternatively, the sangharaja may be chosen semi-democratically by monks or the laity (similar to the election of an abbot in some Theravada communities).