Nahapet of Edessa

NAHAPET OF EDESSA. - Armenian Katholikós of Etchmiadzin (1691-1704).

On Sept. 5, 1695 he sent a profession of Catholic faith to Innocent XII. He encouraged the initiatives for the union of the Armenian Church with Rome promoted by European and Armenian missionaries, and by the legate of Innocent XII, Pierre-Paul Bapaume, titular archbishop of Ancyra. Many among the Armenians, together with N., were disposed to sign the conditions laid down by the Pope for such a union. But the opposing faction, led by Bishop Stefanos of Julfa, deposed N., who was replaced by Stefanos (1695-96), who after barely a year had to abandon the see. N. was reinstated. The talks for union between the Armenian vartapets of Persia and Fr. Vilotte S.J. and Gaudreau of the Foreign Missions of Paris were not crowned with success, and the attempt to win over the 30,000 Armenians of Julfa together with their 400 priests failed over secondary questions.

In May 1699, in the name of Innocent XII, a delegation set out from Constantinople for Etchmiadzin, led by Khaciatur Vartapet Arakelean, the bearer of the brief of May 3, 1698 Graves, etsi non inconsueto, and of pontifical gifts for N., who received them with great pomp. N. removed the anathemas against the Council of Chalcedon and St. Leo, recently introduced into the sacred ordinations, and forbade Avetik, the intruded bishop of Erzurum and later patriarch of Constantinople, a persecutor of Catholics. N., however, did not succeed in the aim of union because of the many difficulties arising from the excessive dispersion of the Armenian dioceses, subject to different currents according to the various Empires in which they found themselves, enjoying in part the civil support of various Islamic States. N. was also famous as a builder of many churches and monasteries in Armenia.