Page 73 - THE ARMENIAN CHURCH_Neat

74 The Armenian Church

tween the two Catholicosates. In spite of
these tensions, since 1441 the two Catholi-
cosates have faithfully served the Armenian
Church and people as independent church
centers, recognizing each other’s authority
and jurisdiction. The primacy of honor (primus
inter pares) of the Holy See of St. Etchmiadzin
has always been recognized by the Holy See
of Cilicia. The two catholicoi are equal in rank
and they possess the same ecclesial authority,
responsibilities, rights, and privileges within
the Armenian Church.
In 1941, in order to strengthen the broth-
erly relations of the two Catholicosates and
to give more visibility to the Church's inter-
nal unity, it was decided that the Catholi-
cosal Sees would send two delegates to take
part in the election of each other’s catholi-
cos. In the following years, reciprocal visits
and the meetings of mixed commissions
deepened mutual understanding. With the
restoration of the independence of Armenia
in 1991 and through the frequent meetings
between the two catholicoi and the clergy,
the two Catholicosates began to work more
closely together. In fact, tangible evidence of
the unity of the Armenian Church was given
by the common celebration of the 1700th
anniversary of the formal conversion of Ar-
menia to Christianity in 2001, by the joint
meetings of the councils of bishops of the
two Catholicosates in 2013 and 2014, after