On the Anti-Canonicity of Omitting the Names of the Catholicos of All Armenians and the Diocesan Hierarch during the Holy Liturgy
16.12.2025
During the Holy Liturgy, the commemoration of the names of the Supreme Hierarch and the diocesan hierarch—the bishop—has several fundamental meanings:
A. Ritual, through which the mystery of the Holy Liturgy is expressed in its fullness, and the Liturgikon is affirmed as an official sacred text approved by the Church;
B. Ecclesiological and canonical, through which the local community, gathered around the bread and the chalice of the Holy Liturgy, is proclaimed as part of the Universal Church. The spiritual leader of this community is the bishop, and the priest or bishop who celebrates the Liturgy thereby affirms his ecclesiastical and canonical unity with the Mother Church and her Primate—the Supreme Hierarch.
In the Armenian Apostolic Church, the earliest testimony to the commemoration of the bishop’s name during the Holy Liturgy dates back to the tenth century and is found in the Commentary on the Liturgikon of the Armenian Church by Khosrov of Andzevats.
According to Khosrov of Andzevats, the commemoration of the bishop’s name is of great importance, since the bishop is the guardian of the true doctrine of the Church, and through this act, the priest confirms the sacred authority received from him and the proper celebration of the Holy Liturgy in accordance with the authentic teaching of the Church.
The arbitrary or deliberate omission by the celebrant of the names of the Catholicos and the bishop not only contradicts the liturgical canon observed by the Universal Church for centuries, but also distorts both the understanding and the spiritual meaning of the mystery of the Holy Liturgy.
The commemoration of these names during the Holy Liturgy renders the gathered church a part of the apostolic and universal Church. Conversely, the omission by the celebrant of the names of the Catholicos of All Armenians and the diocesan hierarch signifies that the celebrating cleric:
- calls into question the celebration of the Holy Liturgy on the foundation of the true faith, since oversight of its proper observance belongs to the bishop and the Catholicos;
- places himself outside ecclesial communion;
- rejects the authority of the Church’s Primate.
