Armenian Apostolic Church in Austria

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The house of the Armenian Apostolic Church at Kolonitzgasse 11 in Vienna

The Armenian Apostolic Church in Austria , self-designated Armenian Apostolic Church Community Austria ( AAKG ) is a legally recognized church .

The seat of the parish and church is the St. Hripsime Church at Kolonitzgasse 11 in Vienna - Landstrasse . With its sections in Upper Austria and Styria, it has around 3000 members.

history

Armenian community in Bucovina

The Armenian Church in Suceava, 1899

The Armenian Church was represented in Austria from 1775 by the parish in Suceava in Bukovina . This parish consisted of four parishes. Since the leadership of the church was in the Ottoman Empire and thus abroad, Emperor Joseph II decreed that the "spiritual jurisdiction" should no longer lie with the archbishops in Anatolia. After a personal visit by the emperor in Suceava in 1783, the Armenians were allowed to employ further clergymen and to manage the registers for their believers, which gave the community a public-law position, although it was not expressly mentioned in the tolerance patent . The Minister of Education, Karl von Strehmayr, however, expressly stated in 1877 that the state recognition of the Armenians had never been questioned.

In 1877 there were efforts by the Catholicos to found their own congregation in Vienna. This was not welcomed by the city's Armenians. They wanted to remain subordinate to Suceava, which otherwise would not have been able to provide them with financial support. So it came only to the creation of an expositur, which did not require any change in the municipal code.

Armenian community in Vienna

In 1912, a St. Salvator Chapel was set up in the attic of Dominikanerbastei 10 from donations . Most of the equipment for this chapel came from Suceava. It was not until the Armenian community of Suceava was destroyed in the First World War that the Vienna Salvatorkapelle succeeded it in the Republic of Austria. As a legal curiosity, she had retained the right to keep records.

Objects from the Salvator Chapel in Vienna, today on the gallery of the St. Hripsime Church

Since the Second World War, pastoral care of the faithful in Germany has been carried out from Vienna, which was made official by Katholikos Wasgen I. in 1957 . The pastor was Yeghi Utudjian at that time. In 1962 Mesrob K. Krikorian took over the leadership of the parish as Wardapet , who has been archbishop since 1992. In 1964 the house and property at Kolonitzgasse 11 were bought and the foundation stone was laid for the construction of a church building. The Church of St. Hripsime, completed in 1967, was consecrated by Catholicos Vazken I on April 21, 1968.

Legal recognition in 1972 and diocesan seat in 1980

Since the Armenians were not covered by the Orthodox Law passed in 1967, the church continued to be a religious community under public law, but not a state-recognized religious community. This unclear situation was ended with the decree of the Ministry of Education of December 12, 1972, with which the recognition took place.

In 1980 the Armenian Church established a new diocese for Central Europe and Scandinavia in Vienna, which at that time also included Germany. Through a restructuring in 1990, Germany was separated from this diocese. A highlight in the recent history of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Austria was the visit of Catholicos Karekin II. Nersissian , during which a memorial for the 1700th anniversary of the Christianization of Armenia was inaugurated in front of the church in Vienna and its location by the Vienna community on Armenierplatz was named.

The Hovhannes Shiraz School was opened as a denominational school in 1981.

The parish has been cared for since 1962 by Mesrob K. Krikorian , Archbishop since 1992, who carried out important research on the history of the Armenians in Austria. In 2011 Krikorian retired and was succeeded by Archarchimandrite Haigazoun Najarian , Patriarchal Delegate for Central Europe and Scandinavia.

organization

The Armenian Apostolic Church Community of Austria is subordinate to the Catholic of Etschmiadzin and, together with the Syrian, Coptic and Ethiopian Churches, is one of the ancient oriental churches . The Catholicos is represented by a patriarchal delegate for Central Europe and Scandinavia based in Vienna.

Municipality of Vienna

The Armenian Apostolic Church in Austria is a public corporation . It maintains a parish based in Vienna, which has sections in Upper Austria and Styria. The center of the community is the Church of St. Hripsime at Kolonitzgasse 11 in Vienna – Landstrasse . The Viennese community runs the Hovhannes-Shiraz-School as well as various cultural, study and sports clubs.

The Armenian congregation in Vienna consists of around 3000 believers and is headed (2014) by Ter Andreas Isakhanyan.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  • Armenian Apostolic Church , World Council of Churches in Austria, oekumene.at.
  • Federal Chancellery (Ed.): Religions in Austria . Overview of the religious communities recognized in Austria. Bundespressedienst, Vienna 2014, 2.4 Armenian Apostolic Church in Austria , p. 30–32 ( pdf , bka.gv.at [accessed June 18, 2014]).
  1. ^ New leadership for the Armenian Apostolic Church in Austria , erzdioezese-wien.at.
  2. ↑ A total of around 7,000 Armenians live in Austria. Since 2001, religious affiliation in Austria is no longer recorded in the censuses. Admission is a matter for the religious organizations themselves.

Coordinates: 48 ° 12 ′ 37.3 "  N , 16 ° 23 ′ 21.7"  E