Sedia gestatoria Maria in Aracoeli. Pope John Paul I initially declined to use the ceremonial throne carried on shoulders, along with several other symbols of papal authority, but was eventually convinced that it was necessary to make him visible to the crowds in Saint Peter's Square. He was the last pope to use the portable throne. Pope John Paul II discontinued the use of a throne carried on shoulders in 1978. Neither of his successors, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, has revived it. The "sedia gestatoria" has been replaced outdoors by the motorized "Popemobile", which is often heavily protected and even
Religion in Armenia the 1st century AD. Armenia became the first country to establish Christianity as its state religion when, in an event traditionally dated to 301 AD, St. Gregory the Illuminator convinced Tiridates III, the king of Armenia, to convert to Christianity. Before this, the dominant religion was Armenian paganism, under the theological influence of Zoroastrianism. Hetanism (Հեթանոսություն, "Hetanosutyun") is a neo-ethnic religion movement in Armenia. Adherents call themselves "Hetans" ("Hetanos" հեթանոս, the Old Armenian biblical term loaned from Greek ἐθνικός "gentile"). The movement traces its origins back to the work of the early-20th-century political philosopher and revolutionary Garegin Nzhdeh and his