List of Armenian Patriarchs of Constantinople
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![Patriarch Harutyun I[citation needed]](../../../upload/thumb/c/ce/Constantinople%281878%29-Armenian_patriarch.png/180px-Constantinople%281878%29-Armenian_patriarch.png)
The Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople is today head of one of the smallest Patriarchates of the Oriental Orthodox Church but has exerted a very significant political role and today still exercises a spiritual authority, which earns him considerable respect among Orthodox churches. Despite a huge diminution in the number of its faithful, the patriarchate is the largest Christian community in Turkey. The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople recognizes the primacy of the Catholicos of All Armenians, in Etchmiadzin, Armenia, in matters that pertain to the worldwide Armenian Church. In local matters, the Patriarchal See is autonomous.
The first Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople was Hovagim I, who was at the time the Metropolitan of Bursa. In 1461, he was brought to Constantinople by Sultan Mehmed II and established as the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople. Hovagim I was recognized as the religious and secular leader of all Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, and carried the title of milletbaşı or ethnarch as well as patriarch. During the Byzantine period, the Armenian Church was not allowed to operate in Constantinople, because the Greek Orthodox Church regarded the Armenian Church as heretic. Many famous Armenian Patriarchs (Catholicos), including Saint Narses, were imprisoned in the Princes' Islands by the Byzantines for "heresy". The Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II not only allowed the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople to stay in the city, but also allowed the rival Armenians to establish their own church in the new Ottoman capital as well, partly in order to play different Christian factions off each other. For a short period, the Syrian Orthodox Church was also placed under the jurisdiction of the Armenian Patriarchate.
![Patriarch Nerses Varjabedyan[citation needed]](../../../upload/thumb/6/67/Nerses_Varjabedyan_%281837-1884%29.jpg/180px-Nerses_Varjabedyan_%281837-1884%29.jpg)
Like the Greek Patriarchate, the Armenians suffered severely from intervention by the state in their internal affairs. Although there have been 115 pontificates since 1461, there have only been 84 individual Patriarchs. Karapet II served five separate pontificates (1676-1679, 1680-1681, 1681-1684, 1686-1687 and 1688-1689). In 1896 Patriarch Matteos III Izmirlian was deposed and exiled to Jerusalem by Sultan Abdülhamid II for boldly denouncing the 1896 massacre and was only permitted to return in 1908 when the Sultan himself was deposed. The national Constitution granted to Armenians (Sahmanadrootiun) by Sultan Abdülaziz in 1861, which had been abrogated for nearly twenty years, was also restored.
The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Turkey and Crete is the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople. He is under the authority of His Holiness, the Catholicos of Armenia and of All Armenians.
The seat of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople is the Surp Asdvadzadzin Patriarchal Church in the Kumkapı neighborhood of Istanbul.
[edit] Armenian Patriarchs of Constantinople
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[edit] See also
- Armenian Orthodox Church
- Armenian Catholicoi of Cilicia
- Armenian Patriarchs of Jerusalem
- Armenian Catholic Patriarchs
- Catholicos of Armenia
