www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Church relations in Armenia

I've read on several threads and posts elsewhere that in Armenia, the richer people of either denomination attend Armenian Catholic churches and the poorer attended Armenian Orthodox churches regardless of their actual denomination (and this may be in part because of the differences economic development in different regions). The particular point that caught my interest was that people don't seem to differentiate between Armenian Catholic and Armenian Orthodox as though the Armenian Catholic Church never left communion with the Armenian Orthodox (the larger church there). Can anyone offer me particular insight into the relationship between these two churches?

It also exists here in the USA. A few years ago, I visited an American Catholic parish for Sunday liturgy. During my conversation with the pastor, he informed me that a large percentage of people attending were in fact Armenian Apostolic. He didn't explain why this was so, but I was certainly surprised to know about that.