Page 54 - THE ARMENIAN CHURCH_Neat

Hierarchy and Decision-making
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delegates, representing all the dioceses and
the clergy of all ranks. All bishops are eligible
to stand for election as catholicos, irrespec-
tive of their age and which Hierarchical See
of the Armenian Church they belong to. The
election is presided over by the locum tenens
(a clergyman, preferably a bishop, filling
the office of the catholicos temporarily) and
takes place in the church. The main ecclesial
privileges of the catholicos are the ordination
of bishops and consecration of the holy
muron. The catholicos approves the election
of primates and, when necessary, appoints
catholicosal legates. The consecration of the
catholicos, which began in the 9th Century,
takes place with the participation of at least
three bishops. The ritual, which includes
anointing the head of the new catholicos, is
similar to that used in the enthronement of
ancient Armenian kings.
Patriarch
The patriarch (patriark‘) is enthroned, not
consecrated; he has local authority and re-
cognizes the spiritual supremacy of the ca-
tholicos. The patriarch of Jerusalem is elected
by the Brotherhood of the Patriarchate; the
patriarch of Constantinople is elected by an
assembly composed of clergy and lay dele-
gates, representing the parishes.