Nagy Kornél, Lembergben kezdődött. Az Örménykatolikus Egyház Születése [It Begun in Lemberg. The Beginning of the Armenian Catholic Church] Nyíregyháza: Szent Atanáz Görögkatolikus Hittudományi Főiskola, 2020. 195 pp.

Abstract

Kornél Nagy is a Senior Research Fellow of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, a renowned researcher of European Armenians and the Armenian Catholic Church in Transylvania. In this work, he seeks to examine when the establishment of the European Armenian Catholic Church can be dated, based on ecclesiastical and archival sources. The research focuses on the Armenian community of Lemberg and its gradual rapprochement with the Catholic Church. To present the research findings, Nagy first presents the available sources, placing them in their historical context. Of particular importance are the Vatican archival sources, which provide a realistic picture of the demographic-religious relations in 17^th-century Central-Eastern Europe, the internal divisions of the European Armenian community of the time, and its relations with the motherland under Turkish occupation. To help the reader understand the settlement and Catholicization of the Armenians in Eastern Europe, the author briefly outlines the history of the first Christian nation, highlighting that even before the Turkish conquest, there was tension between Constantinople and the Armenians, not only for religious but also for ethno-social reasons. The rapprochement between the Armenians and the Catholic Church began in the first millennium, and then fluctuated in the following centuries. The author also points out that it was not only external invasions (Byzantines, Persians, Turks) that caused the westward migration of Armenians, but also internal divisions that accelerated the process.