Page 44 - THE ARMENIAN CHURCH_Neat

Long History in Brief 45

1856, promising equality to all citizens.
However, these edicts did not bring about
any real change in the situation of the
Christians. In 1863, again under pressure
from Europe, a National Constitution for the
Armenians was approved by the Ottoman
government. Under the terms of this con-
stitution, the Armenian community was
considered, like other religious minorities,
a millet, namely, a self-governing entity. The
Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople acted
as the spokesperson of the community at the
same time as he represented the Ottoman
state. The constitution also granted a major
role to the laity within the administration of
the Armenian Church.
The end of this period witnessed a general
religious, cultural, and national reawakening
in the life of the Armenian people living both
within Russian and Ottoman boundaries. The
newly established theological seminaries, Ke-
vorkian Jemaran in Armenia and Armash in
the Ottoman Empire, and a group of eminent
spiritual leaders, such as Catholicos N. Ash-
daraketsi, Catholicos M. Khrimian, Catho-
licos P. Gulesserian, Patriarch M. Ormanian,
Patriarch Y. Tourian, and Patriarch T. Kou-
chagian, and scholars, such as A. Ter-
Mikelian, E. Ter-Minastiants, and G. Ter-
Mkrtchian, contributed to this new wave of
pan-Armenian revival. They prepared new
generations of clergy, scholars, and teachers,