Armenian Bishop

The Church of Ireland

Diocese of Clogher

ARMENIAN BISHOP VISITS CLOGHER DIOCESE

Bishop Nathan, Primate of the Armenian Church of Great Britain, visited the Diocese of Clogher on Friday 20^th and Saturday 21^st January 2006. Bishop Nathan was born in Yerevan, Armenia and graduated in music before studying and teaching theology in Holy Etchmiazin in Armenia. Ordained in 1988, Bishop Nathan became the first Primate of the Ukraine in 1997 and Primate of the Armenian Church of Great Britain in 2000. He visited Ireland in November 2005 to mark the 90^th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide at the invitation of the Church of Ireland Committee for Christian Unity.

After being hosted by Monaghan County Council at a Civic Reception on the evening of Friday 20^th January, Bishop Nathan spent Saturday January 21^st in St Macartan’s College, Monaghan at the invitation of Bishop Duffy and Bishop Jackson. During the day, he explored the key aspects of Armenian prayer and spirituality, with a gathering of over 140 people who attended from throughout the Diocese. Among other things, the contribution which Christianity has made to the self-understanding of the Armenian people and their endurance of persecution and suffering throughout their history was discussed. There was an opportunity for those who attended to discuss informally, the ways of prayer appropriate to contemporary life and to everyday circumstances.

The Armenian Apostolic Church, which belongs to the 'Orthodox' family of churches, is one of the oldest branches of the Christian faith, and according to tradition, two of Christ's Apostles St. Thaddeus and St. Bartholomew preached the Gospel in Armenia as early as the second half of the 1st century. Armenia was one of the first countries in the world to embrace Christianity, when King Tiridates III was baptized and declared Christianity as the state religion in 301 A.D. The Christianisation of Armenia determined the entire future course of Armenian history, and with the creation of the Armenian alphabet in 406 A.D., the Holy Scriptures were soon translated into Armenian.