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The Constitution as amended in 2005 provides for freedom of religion and the right to practice, choose, or change religious belief. It recognizes "the exclusive mission of the Armenian Church as a national church in the spiritual life, development of the national culture, and preservation of the national identity of the people of Armenia."
It is sometimes referred to as the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church, Armenian Church or Armenian Gregorian Church. [ 9 ] [ 10 ] [ 11 ] The Armenian Apostolic Church should not be confused with the fully distinct Armenian Catholic Church , which is an Eastern Catholic Church in communion with the See of Rome .
Armenian Catholics live mainly in the northern region, while most Jews, Mormons, Baha'is, and Orthodox Christians reside in Yerevan. In Yerevan there is also a small community of Muslims, including Kurds, Iranians, and temporary residents from the Middle East.
Catholic Armenian communities were also founded in New Jersey, in Boston and Detroit, as in Los Angeles and other cities of California. Catholic Armenian educational organizations were also founded in many cities. In Philadelphia and Boston, colleges were founded by Armenian sisters, educating hundreds of children. Later, a similar college was ...
The Catholics have always lived somewhat separate from the communities of Armenian Apostolic Church (an Oriental Orthodox Church that includes most Armenians as members), and intermarriage is not very common. Some Armenian Apostolic Church members refer to the Armenian Catholics as "Franks," because of the influence of French Catholic ...
[16] [15] The Catholic Church has referred to these churches as "the Ancient Churches of the East". [17] Today, Oriental Orthodox Churches are in full communion with each other, but not with the Eastern Orthodox Church or any other churches. Like Catholics or Eastern Orthodox, the Oriental Orthodox Churches includes several self-governing churches.
Orthodox Christianity, Hanafi Sunni Islam, Judaism, and Roman Catholicism all hold a historic place in the country's culture. Muslims are the second largest religious group, estimated at 10% of the population. Groups together constituting about 2% of the population include Catholics, Armenian Christians, Jews, evangelical Protestants, and others.
The Orthodox Armenians or the Chalcedonian Armenians in the Byzantine Empire were called Iberians ("Georgians") or "Greeks". A notable Orthodox "Iberian" Armenian was the Byzantine General Gregory Pakourianos. The descendants of these Orthodox and Chalcedonic Armenians are the Hayhurum of Greece and Catholic Armenians of Georgia.