catholicos

[kuh-thol-i-kuhs, -kos]

noun

plural

catholicoses, catholicoi 

1. (often initial capital letter)

   1. any of the heads of certain autocephalous churches.

   2. (in some autocephalous churches) a primate subject to a patriarch and having authority over metropolitans.

2. (in the early Christian church) the head of monasteries in the same city.

Catholicos

/ kəˈθɒlɪkɒs /

noun

1. the patriarch of the Armenian Church

Word History and Origins

Origin of catholicos¹

1615–25; < Late Greek katholikós, noun use of Greek adj.; catholic

Word History and Origins

Origin of catholicos¹

C17: from Greek katholikos ; see _catholic

Example Sentences

The confrontation between Church and state began at the end of May when the prime minister accused the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Karekin II, of breaking his vow of celibacy and fathering a child, demanding the church leader's replacement.

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If true, Pashinyan's allegation would make the Catholicos unfit for office.

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Under the Church's by-laws, only monks who took a vow of celibacy can be elected a Catholicos.

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He also accused the supreme spiritual leader - Catholicos Karekin II - of breaking his vow of celibacy and fathering a child, calling on him to resign.

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He offered as evidence two redacted statements that showed transfers of $450,000 from a diocese account at Pacific Western Bank with the memo line “Catholicos of All Armenians,” the English term for the Armenian-based leader of the church.

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