Catholicos Gregory IX Mousabegian was the

Catholicos A catholicos (plural: catholicoi) is the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and, in some cases, it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancient Greek ( ...

of the

Armenian Apostolic Church The Armenian Apostolic Church () is the Autocephaly, autocephalous national church of Armenia. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christianity, Christian churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church, like the Armenian Catholic ...

Cilicia Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain (). The region inclu ...

between 1439 and 1446.

Biography

In 1439, the national clergy summoned Gregory IX, newly elected, to appear at Echmiadzin (now called Vagharshapat); it suspected that because of his

Uniate The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

leanings and friendliness towards Rome that he preferred to stay in

Sis Sis or SIS may refer to: People *Michael Sis (born 1960), American Catholic bishop Places * Sis (ancient city), historical town in modern-day Turkey, served as the capital of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. * Kozan, Adana, the current name ...

and declined the invitation. He also gave permission for the clergy to elect another Catholicos. The national synod of 700 bishops, clerics, and Armenian nobility met again in Echmiadzin in May of 1441 and elected Kyrakos of Virap as the new Catholics. It is a riddle of history on what basis the election of a new Catholicos took place in Vagharshapat. It is unknown if Gregory was invited to return to Echmiadzin and refused or if he suggested that a new Catholicos be elected there. Some authorities in the 18th century suggested that this was the case and that the Catholicos said, "I will remain here and die and after my death the See of Sis will cease to exist of its own accord." Exact circumstances may never be known. Some lists of the Armenian Catholicoi list him as only reigning for two years and consider him deposed after the 1441 election. Whatever the case, he continued to reign as Catholicos in Cilicia until his death in 1446 and was succeeded as Catholicos at Cilicia by Garabed II and there have been two Catholicoi of the

ever since.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory 09 Of Cilicia Catholicoi of Cilicia 1446 deaths Armenian Apostolic Christians Year of birth unknown 15th-century Oriental Orthodox archbishops