Armenian Catholic Church

Armenian Catholic Church
Emblem of the Armenian Catholic Church
Founder	Abraham Petros I Ardzivian
Independence	26 November 1742
Recognition	Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic Churches
Primate	Armenian Patriarch of Cilicia Krikor Bedros XX Gabroyan
Headquarters	Lebanon
Territory	Armenia
Possessions	Russia, Iraq, Georgia, France, United States, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Canada, Australia, Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria, Belgium, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Ukraine, Belarus, Ethiopia and many others.
Language	Armenian
Members	736,956 (2015 Annuario Pontificio)
Website	www.armeniancatholic.org

The Armenian Catholic Church (Armenian: Հայ Կաթողիկէ Եկեղեցի, Hay Kat’oġikē Ekeġec’i) is one of the Eastern particular churches sui iuris of the Catholic Church. They accept the leadership of the Bishop of Rome, known as the papal primacy, and therefore are in full communion with the Catholic Church, including both the Latin Church and the 22 other Eastern Catholic Churches. The Armenian Catholic Church is regulated by Eastern canon law, namely the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches.

The head of the sui iuris Armenian Catholic Church is the Armenian Catholic Patriarch of Cilicia, whose main cathedral and de facto archiepiscopal see is the Cathedral of Saint Elias and Saint Gregory the Illuminator, in Beirut, Lebanon.

After the Armenian Apostolic Church formally broke off communion from the Chalcedonian churches in the 5th century, some Armenian bishops and congregations made attempts to restore communion with the Catholic Church. During the Crusades, the church of the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia entered into a union with the Catholic Church, an attempt that did not last. The union was later re-established during the Council of Florence in 1439, but did not have any real effects for centuries.