Page 67 - THE ARMENIAN CHURCH_Neat

68 The Armenian Church

After the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
collapsed in 1375, Cilicia became a battle-
ground between Seljuks, Mamlukes, Tartars,
and other invading powers. The deteriorating
situation and increasing Latin influence on
the Armenian Church in Cilicia, on the one
hand, and the relatively peaceful conditions
in Armenia, on the other hand, as well as
growing tension caused by the openness of
the Cilician clergy and the conservatism of
the clergy in Armenia, most likely led the
clergy of Armenia to elect a new catholicos
in 1441 at St. Etchmiadzin in Armenia in
the person of Giragos I Virabetsi (1441-1443),
while Catholicos Krikor IX Musabegiants
(1439-1446) was residing in Sis in Cilicia.
In 1441, therefore, two catholicoi emerged in
the Armenian Church with equal rights and
privileges and with their respective jurisdic-
tions.
− The Catholicosate of the Great House of
Cilicia or Holy See of Cilicia. As we have
indicated, due to politico-security conditions,
the Catholicosate, after changing its location
in Armenia several times, was moved from
Armenia to Cilicia in the middle of the 11th
Century. The motives for electing a new
catholicos in St. Etchmiadzin, Armenia, in
1441, while the legitimate successor of St.
Gregory the Illuminator was residing in Sis,
Cilicia, as referred to above, are not clear.
The sources of the period present a blurred