Catholicos
CATHOLICOS
The title of the heads of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Orthodox Church of Georgia, and the Assyrian Church of the East. Catholicos in its first usage signified the head of a church who was dependent on a patriarch but also acted as his vicar. Later, the titles of patriarch and catholicos had the same denotation. The leader of the Armenian Church at Etshmiadzin bears the title Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians. The Church of Georgia, formerly under the Armenian catholicos, separated in 609 and later became autocephalous. Its primate also is called Catholicos—Patriarch of All Georgie.
The title of catholicos was given the leader of the bishops of Seleucia during the fourth century. When a distinct church, the Assyrian Church of the East emerged, the Catholicos received the additional title of Patriarch.
Bibliography: d. attwater, The Christian Churches of the East, 2 v. (rev. ed. Milwaukee 1961–62). r. roberson, The Eastern Catholic Churches: A Brief Survey, 6th ed. (Rome 1999).
[s. j. beggiani]