Pope Francis on February 21, 2015 named St. Gregory of Narek a Doctor of the Church , one of the highest distinctions in Roman Catholicism.
This 10th century Armenian mystic and theologian was recently given his own liturgical feast day on the Roman calendar. And now Catholics will keep his memory each year on February 27.
It is quite extraordinary for a saint who was not a Latin, but an Armenian a member of a Church that dates back to apostolic times.
The formal relationship between the Armenian Church and the Latin Church started only in the 12
thcentury.
Though the Armenians had much more contact with the Byzantines, the Crusades brought Latin Catholics back into contact with the Armenians.