Aram I.

Aram I. (2010)

Aram I. Keshishian (born May 8, 1947 in Beirut ) is a clergyman of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the current "Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia" .

Life

Aram Pedros Keshishian was born in Beirut in 1947 . In 1968 he was ordained a priest . In 1970 he received the title of Vartabed , Doctor of Theology of the Armenian Apostolic Church. In 1978, while studying in New York , he was appointed Vicar of the Diocese of Beirut. In 1979 he was elected Primate of Lebanon ; the episcopal ordination took place on August 22, 1980 in Antelias . He took up the office of bishop in the middle of the Lebanese civil war . As a primate, he therefore campaigned for the maintenance of church activities, such as church schools, social organizations and local religious communities. He also supported the unity movement in Lebanon. He was Bishop of Beirut and Primate of Lebanon until 1995, when the electoral synod (35 clergy and 115 lay representatives), chaired by Catholicos Karekin I of Etschmiadzin, elected him Catholicos of Cilicia. Ordination and enthronement took place on July 1, 1995 by Catholicos Karekin I of Echmiadzin, Patriarch Torkom Manugian of Jerusalem and Patriarch Karekin II. Kazanjian of Constantinople.

Education

Aram Keshishian studied philosophy , systematic theology and the history of the Eastern Churches first in the seminary of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Antelias , Lebanon , later at the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary of the Lebanese Baptists , the American University of Beirut , the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey and finally at the Fordham University in New York . As a bishop he already lectured at the Armenian Apostolic Seminary in Antelias and the Haigazian University in Beirut, where he taught Armenian philology and theology. He wrote numerous academic papers in Armenian , French and English .

Ecumenical activity

Aram I. (center) with the Tehran prelate of St. Sarkis , Sepuh Sargsjan (left), during a visit to the Vartanants Church in 2008

In 1972, Bishop Aram Keshishian became Chairman Secretary of the Cilicia Catholic for Ecumenical Relations and represented the Catholic in that position at many ecumenical meetings. As a delegate of the Armenian Apostolic Church, he also took part in the plenary sessions of the World Council of Churches in Nairobi in 1975, in Vancouver in 1983 and in Canberra in 1991. In 1975 he finally became a member of the Faith and Order Commission of the WCC, and since 1983 he has been a member of that commission's standing committee. He was elected to the main committee of the WCC at the Vancouver assembly and emerged from the Canberra assembly as the moderator of the main and executive committee, the first representative of the Eastern Church and the youngest person to hold this office. He was re-elected in Harare in 1998 . In addition, Aram Keshishian was a co-founder of the Council of Eastern Churches in 1974 and a member of its executive committee. He is also an honorary member of the ecumenical foundation of the Catholic Church Pro Oriente in Vienna and many other ecumenical organizations. During his visit to the Vatican on January 26, 1997, he signed a joint ecumenical declaration with Pope John Paul II. He personally attended his funeral ceremony in Rome in 2005.

Political statements

At the end of August 2006, Aram I. described the participation of Turkish troops in the UNIFIL troops in southern Lebanon as "morally unacceptable" due to the genocide of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915–1918.

Web links

Commons : Aram I  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Aram I. in the catalog of the German National Library
• Internet portal of the Catholic of Cilicia
• Ecumenical News International article on the rejection of Turkish UN troops by Aram I.

predecessor	Office	successor
Karekin II	Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Cilicia since 1995	---