Christianity is one of the world's religions. This means that it is not limited to the framework of any one nation (such as the Japanese Shinto religion) and is distributed among many nations living far from its origin.
In most countries of the modern world, there is no state religion at all: all religions (except forbidden destructive cults) are equal before the law, the state does not interfere in their affairs. Such states are called secular or secular. Belongs to their number and the Russian Federation. From this point of view, Russia can be called the "Orthodox country", and Italy - the "Catholic" can only be from the point of view of historical religious traditions.
But there are also countries in which the official status of a religion is fixed by law.
The very first Christian state
Often the very first state in which Christianity acquired the status of state religion is called Byzantium, but this is not true. The edict of Milan by Emperor Constantine the Great, who opened the way to the formation of Byzantium as a Christian state, dates back to 313. But 12 years before this event - in 301 - Christianity was officially recognized in Greater Armenia.
This event was facilitated by the position of Tsar Trdat III. According to legend, at first this king was strongly opposed to the Christian faith. His close St. He sent George the Enlightener to prison for refusing to make a sacrifice to the goddess Anahit. Subsequently, the king became seriously ill. In a dream, an angel appeared to his sister and said that only Gregory could heal Trdat, and the king should become a Christian. And so it happened, and Trdat III after this incident began the struggle against paganism throughout the country.
In modern Armenia, the special legal status of the Armenian Apostolic Church as a national religion is preserved.
