Page 185 - THE ARMENIAN CHURCH_Neat

186 The Armenian Church

the first three ecumenical councils. The
Catholic Church recognizes the pope's juris-
dictional supremacy and also his infallibility
when he speaks ex-cathedra, whereas the
Armenian Church considers the pope only
as primus inter pares, i.e. the first among
equals. The Catholic Church follows an
autocratic model of church authority; the
Armenian Church follows a conciliar model.
The Catholic Church teaches that the Holy
Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son
(filioque way), whereas the Armenian Church
remains faithful to the Nicene-Constantino-
politan Creed, affirming the procession of the
Holy Spirit only from the Father. The Catho-
lic Church believes in transubstantiation, i.e.
that bread and wine change their substance
during the Eucharist; the Armenian Church
believes that in the Eucharist, the bread and
wine preserve their material nature and are
changed only metaphorically into the body
and blood of Christ. The Catholic Church
upholds the dogma of the immaculate con-
ception of St. Mary from Anne; the Ar-
menian Church teaches the immaculate con-
ception only in the case of Christ's birth
from St. Mary. There are also a number of
minor differences in the teachings of the two
churches; for example, the Armenian Church
does not share the Catholic Church's teaching
on purgatory, its position on the celibacy of
the clergy, nor its stand on divorce.