Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin
governing body of the Armenian Apostolic Church
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin (Armenian: Մայր Աթոռ Սուրբ Էջմիածին, romanized: Mayr At’oř Surb Ēĵmiatsin), known in Armenian as simply the Mother See (Մայր Աթոռ, Mayr At’oř), is the governing body of the Armenian Apostolic Church. It is headquartered around Etchmiadzin Cathedral in Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), Armenia and is the seat of the Catholicos of All Armenians, the head of the church.
Organizational structure
The organizational structure of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin is composed of spiritual and administrative bodies representing the authority of the Armenian Church, as follows:
Supreme Spiritual Council
The Supreme Spiritual Council (Armenian: Գերագոյն Հոգեւոր Խորհուրդ Geraguyn Hokevor Khorhurt) is headed by the Catholicos of All Armenians. It is the highest executive body of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Members of the Spiritual Council are either elected by the National Ecclesiastical Assembly or directly appointed by the Catholicos of All Armenians. The Supreme Spiritual Council was established on January 1, 1924, upon reforms initiated by Catholicos George V, replacing the Synod of Bishops.
National Ecclesiastical Assembly
The National Ecclesiastical Assembly (Armenian: Ազգային եկեղեցական ժողով Azgayin Yekeghetsakan Zhoghov) is headed by the Catholicos of All Armenians. It is the supreme legislative body of the Armenian Church. Elected by the individual Diocesan Assemblies, the National Ecclesiastical Assembly is the body that elects the Catholicos of All Armenians.
Council of Bishops
The Council of Bishops (Armenian: Եպիսկոպոսաց ժողով Yepiskoposats Zhoghov) is an administrative body headed by the Catholicos of All Armenians.
The public source identifies “Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin” as governing body of the Armenian Apostolic Church. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Mother, Holy and Etchmiadzin.
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Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q548391. VIAF identifies the subject as 126208832. Authority coordinates are 40.162, 44.291. 1 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1924.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.