USCCB - (AEE) - History for the Church of Armenia

History for the Church of Armenia

Ord., 1 (for Catholic Armenians of Eastern Europe, with seat in Armenia); a.a., 1 ( for Latin-rite Catholics, with seat in Georgia); parishes, 18; abp., 2; priests, 4 (rel.); sem., 10; srs., 23; bap., 794; Caths., 150,000 (4%); tot. pop., 3,460,000.

Republic in Asia Minor; capital Yerevan. Part of the USSR from 1920 until it declared its sovereignty in September 1991. Ancient Armenia, which also included territory annexed by Turkey in 1920, was Christianized in the forth century. Diplomatic relations were established with the Holy See May 23,1992. Pope John Paul II visited Armenia in late September 2001 to help mark the 1,700th anniversary of Christianity in the nation. The small Catholic community in Armenia has good relations with the predominant Armenian Apostolic Church, an Oriental Orthodox Church.

(The above exert comes from Our Sunday Visitor's 2004 Catholic Almanac and is used on this web site with the publisher's permission.)