ASIA/LEBANON - Farewell to Krikor Bedros Ghabroyan, Patriarch of the Catholic Armenians

Wednesday, 26 May 2021 middle east   oriental churches   local churches  

Beirut (Agenzia Fides) - On the morning of Tuesday May 25, Krikor Bedros XX Ghabroyan, Patriarch of Cilicia of the Catholic Armenians passed away due to illness in a clinic in Beirut. Born in Aleppo (then under French protectorate) on November 14, 1934, he had completed his primary studies at the Armenian Catholic convent of Bzommar (a village 36 km north-east of Beirut) before moving to Rome, at the Pontifical Armenian College, where he had completed his studies in philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was ordained a priest on March 28, 1959, he returned to Lebanon where until 1975 he had held various positions in the institutions of the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate, and later was rector of the Seminary of Bzommar. In 1976 he was appointed head of the Armenian Catholic exarchate of the Holy Cross in Paris (which became an eparchy in 1986). He had received episcopal ordination in February 1977. After thirty-six years spent in the pastoral care of the Catholic Armenians of France, he retired in February 2013. On 25 July 2015, when he had reached the age of 80, the Synod of the Armenian Catholic Church had chosen him as the 20th Patriarch of Cilicia of the Catholic Armenians. (Agenzia Fides, 26/5/2021)


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