Catholicos Ananias I, also known as Anania Mokatsi, was the Catholicos of the

Armenian Apostolic Church , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

between 949 and 968. His predecessor Yeghishe had been deposed as Catholicos and by church regulations no one could be elected during his lifetime. The office was held by a deputy until Yeghishe died two years later and Ananias of

Varagavank Varagavank ( hy, Վարագավանք, "Monastery of Varag"; tr, Yedi Kilise, "Seven Churches") was an Armenian monastery on the slopes of Mount Erek, southeast of the city of Van, in eastern Turkey. The monastery was founded in the early 11 ...

became pontiff. Catholicos Ananias moved the seat of the Catholicosate from

Vaspurakan Vaspurakan (, Western Armenian pronunciation: ''Vasbouragan'') was the eighth province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia, which later became an independent kingdom during the Middle Ages, centered on Lake Van. Located in what is now southeaster ...

at Akhtamar to the town of Arghina. He crowned

Ashot III Ashot III ( hy, Աշոտ Գ) was a king of Armenia, ruling the medieval kingdom of Armenia from 952/53–77. Known as Ashot III the Merciful (Աշոտ Գ Ողորմած) and acknowledged by foreign rulers as the ''Shahanshah'' (king of kings) o ...

in 961 at his new capital nearby of

Ani Ani ( hy, Անի; grc-gre, Ἄνιον, ''Ánion''; la, Abnicum; tr, Ani) is a ruined medieval Armenian city now situated in Turkey's province of Kars, next to the closed border with Armenia. Between 961 and 1045, it was the capital of the ...

. In 958 the Catholicos ended the schism of the bishop of Syunik, who was supported by the Catholicos of

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

, at the Council of Kapan by consecrating its new metropolitan. This period showed a great deal of involvement of the king in church activities. A relative of Ananias later became Catholicos

Khachig I of Armenia Catholicos Khachik I ( hy, Խաչիկ Ա. Արշարունի) was the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_al ...

Literature

* Rouben Paul Adalian, Historical Dictionary of Armenia, Scarecrow Press, 2010, 750 pp, c.81 * A. J. Hacikyan, G. Basmajian, E. S. Franchuk, N. Ouzounian: The Heritage of Armenian Literature: From the sixth to the eighteenth century, Literary Collections, 2002, pp. 1108

References

Catholicoi of Armenia 968 deaths Armenian Oriental Orthodox Christians Year of birth unknown 10th-century Armenian people 10th-century Oriental Orthodox archbishops {{Armenia-reli-bio-stub