Abraham Petros I Ardzivian (in

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

Աբրահամ Պետրոս Ա. Արծիւեան ) (1679 in Aintab,

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

– 1749 in Lebanon) was the founder of the

Armenian Catholic Church , native_name_lang = hy , image = St Elie - St Gregory Armenian Catholic Cathedral.jpg , imagewidth = 260px , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Saint Elias and Saint Gregory the Illuminat ...

and its first Catholicos-Patriarch from 1740 to 1749.

Biography

He was born on 12 April 1679 in Aintab and started his religious vocation as a priest in 1706 in the

Armenian Apostolic Church , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

. In 1710 Ardzivian was ordained as the Armenian Orthodox Bishop of Aleppo by the Catholicos of the

Holy See of Cilicia The Armenian Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia ( hy, Կաթողիկոսութիւն Հայոց Մեծի Տանն Կիլիկիոյ) is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church. Since 1930, the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilici ...

(the Armenian Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia). After his conversion to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, he was persecuted, imprisoned and exiled, in different Ottoman prisons. In 1714, many Armenian converts to Catholicism decided to congregate independently under the leadership of Bishops Melkon Tazbazian and Abraham Ardzivian, with both being in prison. Tazbazian died in prison and Ardzivian, being liberated briefly was imprisoned again on Rouad Island from 1719 to 1721. After liberation and residing briefly in Aleppo, he took refuge in voluntary exile in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

at Kreim, near Ghosta, Keserwan, Lebanon. The Armenian Catholic Mouradian brothers of Aleppo bought an estate to found an Armenian Catholic convent in Kreim where Ardzivian resided. He founded the Kreim convent and St-Antoine's Armenian Catholic Monks order. After two decades in Lebanon, he returned to his eparchy of Aleppo in 1739 after one year of the establishment of the eparchy in 1738. He was ordained Armenian Catholic Bishop of Aleppo by Greek Catholic bishops in 1739 and was declared the first Catholicos-Patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church on November 26, 1740. This was ratified by

Pope Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV ( la, Benedictus XIV; it, Benedetto XIV; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758. Pope Be ...

after a meeting of the Cardinals in Rome on November 26, 1742. The Pope also granted him the

Pallium The pallium (derived from the Roman ''pallium'' or ''palla'', a woolen cloak; : ''pallia'') is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the pope, but for many centuries bestowed by the Holy See upon metropol ...

. Upon his return, to Lebanon, he served as Catholicos-Patriarch aided by 6 clergy and a number of Armenian Catholic monks. He died on 1 October 1749. He was succeeded by Hagop Petros II Hovsepian.

References

Sources

*Gabriella Uluhogian: ''Abraham Petros Ardzivian, primo patriarca armeno-cattolico''. In: Studi e Ricerche sull'Oriente Cristiano 6,1 (1983) 3-17.

External links

Biography on official site of the Armenian Catholic Church
{{Authority control Armenian Catholic Patriarchs of Cilicia Converts to Eastern Catholicism from Oriental Orthodoxy 18th-century Eastern Catholic bishops 1679 births 1749 deaths People from Gaziantep Armenians from the Ottoman Empire

Biography

See also

References

Sources

External links