Cathedral of the Holy Martyrs in Gyumri

 

We arrived late at Gyumri, but I could sneak out of the Hotel for a short visit of the vicinity before I had to return for dinner. I chanced to visit the Cathedral of the Holy Martyrs, which is next to the Museum of National Architecture and Urban Life, but which wasn't mentioned in the Lonely Planet Guidebook [1]. So I've been off the beaten track!

Now let's analyse what I had stumpled upon. I better quote Wikipedia: "Cathedral of the Holy Martyrs (Armenian: Սրբոց Նահատակաց եկեղեցի), in Gyumri, Armenia, is the cathedral of the Ordinariate for Armenia, Georgia, Russia, and Eastern Europe of the Armenian Catholic Church." [2] There were less than 14,000 Catholics in Armenia in 2011, and if you like to know how they are divided, please look up Wikipedia [3] under "Territorial jurisdictions and dioceses". Two years later, Armenian Catholic Church has been formally established by Pope Benedict in 1749 [4]. During the Stalin era many clergies had been killed and churches demolished. After the collapse of the Soviet Union Pope John Paul II reconstituted the catholic Hierarchy of Armenia, Georgia and Oriental Europe in 1991 [5].

The name of the cathedral was changed from "Holy Cross" to "Holy Martyrs" in honor of the martyrs of the Armenian genocide and was consecrated by Krikor Bedros XX Gabroyan, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church, and Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches on 24 September 2015 [6]. So the catherdral is relatively new, but Pope Francis paid a visit on 25 June 2016.

You might still wonder, why I am so excited about this church. It is different to the national church of Armenia, which is the Armenian Apostolic Church (Հայ Առաքելական Եկեղեցի). "The Armenian Apostolic Church believes in apostolic succession through the apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus (Jude)." [7] The church belongs to the Oriental Orthodox Churches, which is one of the oldest branches in Christianity [8]. Please do not confuse the Oriental Orthodox Churches with the Eastern Orthodox Churches (like in Russia).

Don't miss the Cathedral of the Holy Martyrs in Gyumri, but make sure that you also visit all the interesting churches and monasteries in Armenia and Georgia.

Links and Annotations:
[1] Lonely Planet: Georgien, Armenien & Aserbaidschan. Authors: Tom Masters, Joel Balsam, Jenny Smith. Mairdumont, Ostfildern 2023. ISBN: 978-3-575-01063-6.
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_the_Holy_Martyrs,_Gyumri
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_in_Armenia If you understand the paragraph „Territorial jurisdictions and dioceses“ on your first try: Congratulations!
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Catholic_Church  
[5] http://armenianchurchco.com/en/22282.html
[6] The information comes from [2] and maybe you are interested to know that Sept. 24th is my birthday.
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Apostolic_Church  
[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_Orthodox_Churches#Theology_and_ecclesiology

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