Mount Ararat with the historic Khor Virap monastery visible at center-left

First Christian Nation

The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church carries the title Catholicos — from the Greek katholikos, "universal leader." The current Catholicos, His Holiness Karekin II, is the 132nd successor in an unbroken chain of apostolic succession stretching back to Gregory the Illuminator himself, consecrated as Armenia's first bishop around 301 AD.

The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church carries the title Catholicos — from the Greek katholikos, "universal leader." The current Catholicos, His Holiness Karekin II, is the 132nd successor in an unbroken chain of apostolic succession stretching back to Gregory the Illuminator himself, consecrated as Armenia's first bishop around 301 AD.

1328First Christian Nation