Religion in Armenia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The majority of Armenians follow Christianity, which has existed in Armenia for over 1,700 years. Armenia has its own church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, which most Armenians follow. Christianity has a strong influence in the country, but there is a small presence of other religions too.
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[edit] Christianity
The dominant religion in Armenia is Christianity, with 94.7% of the population following the Armenian Apostolic Church[1]. Christianity was first introduced by the apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus in the first century AD. In 301 AD Armenia became the first country to establish Christianity as its state religion when St. Gregory the Illuminator convinced Tiridates III, the king of Armenia, to convert to Christianity. Before this, the dominant religion was Zoroastrianism and to a smaller degree paganism. There are small communities of Catholic and Protestant Armenians, as missionaries converted a number of Armenians in the last few hundred years[2]. The Jehovah's Witnesses have a presence as well. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints claims over 2,000 adherents in Armenia at the end of 2005 (lds.org website).
[edit] Judaism
Jews have a historic presence in Armenia. During the Soviet years, Armenia was considered to be one of the most tolerant republics for Jews in the Soviet Union. Currently there are an estimated 750 Jews in the country, a remnant of a once larger community. Most left Armenia for Israel after the collapse of the Soviet Union because of inadequate services. Still, despite the small numbers, a high intermarriage rate and relative isolation, a lot of enthusiasm exists to help the community meet its needs. [3]
[edit] Islam and Yazidism
Azeris and Kurds living in Armenia traditionally practiced Islam, but most have fled the country due to the Nagorno-Karabakh War. Approximately 1,000 Muslims live in Yerevan, and one 18th century Mosque remains open for Friday prayers.[4] About 2% of Armenia's population, mostly ethnic Kurds living in the western part of the country, follow the ancient Yazidi religion. Many Yazidis came to Armenia and Georgia during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to escape religious persecution.
[edit] Freedom of religion
The Constitution as amended in December 2005 provides for freedom of religion; however, the law places some restrictions on the religious freedom of adherents of minority religious groups, and there were some restrictions in practice. The Armenian (Apostolic) Church, which has formal legal status as the national church, enjoys some privileges not available to other religious groups. Some denominations reported occasional discrimination by mid- or low-level government officials but found high-level officials to be tolerant. Jehovah's Witnesses reported that judges sentenced them to longer prison terms for evasion of alternative military service than in the past, although the sentences were still within the range allowed by law. Societal attitudes toward some minority religious groups were ambivalent, and there were reports of societal discrimination directed against members of these groups.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
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