Karekin Sarkissian
Karekin Sarkissian ( Armenian : Գարեգին Սարգիսյան; * August 27, 1932 in Kessab ( Syria ); † June 29, 1999 in Yerevan ) was a Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church , first as Karekin II. " Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia " and then as Karekin I. "Supreme Catholicos of All Armenians" in Etschmiadzin (Vałaršapat).
Life
Sarkissian (baptismal name: Neshan) attended the Armenian elementary school in his birthplace and in 1946 entered the theological seminary of the Cilicia Catholic in Antelias . In 1949 he was ordained a deacon and in 1952 a monk priest, taking the name Karekin (Garegin) (after Catholicos Karekin I. Hovsepian ). In 1955 he received his doctorate in Wardapet and became a professor and later dean at the seminary in Antelias. From 1957 to 1959 he studied at Oxford, where he obtained his university doctorate with the dissertation The Council of Chalcedon and the Armenian Church .
1963 to 1965 he took part as an observer at the Second Vatican Council .
On January 19, 1964 Catholicos gave him Choren I. the episcopal ordination for the diocese of Tehran. From 1971 he worked as the prelate of the Diocese of Iran and India, based in New Julfa (Isfahan). On April 26, 1973 he was made archbishop and in 1975 appointed primate of the Eastern Prelature of the Cilician Catholicate in New York .
On May 29, 1977 he was elected Catholicos Karekin II of Cilicia and anointed a week later. Until 1983 he worked as a Catholicos coadjutor . After the death of his predecessor Choren I. he took over the office in full.
Since the Spitak earthquake in 1988 , the relationship between the two Armenian Catholics , which had not been free of tension, has normalized . Catholicos Karekin II met more often with Catholicos Wasgen I of Echmiadzin and also took part in his funeral on August 28, 1994.
On April 4, 1995, Karekin Sarkissian was elected "Supreme Catholicos of All Armenians" by the Church National Assembly on the recommendation of the Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrosyan and was enthroned on April 9 in Etschmiadzin, here as Karekin I. He reorganized the Catholic Spiritual Seminary and founded six new dioceses, four in Armenia and two in the diaspora.
From December 10th to 14th, 1996, Karekin I visited Pope John Paul II and Rome and from January 24th to February 3rd, 1998 Germany.
In 1999 he succumbed to cancer. His successors were Aram I in Antelias and Karekin II in Etchmiadzin Nersissian .
Works
- Karekin Sarkissian: A Brief Introduction to Armenian Christian Literature. Faith Press, London 1960 .
- Karekin Sarkissian: The Council of Chalcedon and the Armenian Church. Armenian Prelacy, New York 1975.
- Karekin I., Catholicos of All Armenians: Challenge to Renewal. For a new age in the Armenian Church. Diocese of the Armenian Church in Germany, Cologne 1998, without ISBN.
Honors
- Dr. hc of theology awarded by the University of Halle , January 1998
Individual evidence
- ↑ see press information from the University of Halle (Saale) at http://www.verwaltung.uni-halle.de/dezern1/presse/aktuellemmeldung/karekin.htm
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Choir I. |
Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Cilicia 1977–1995 |
Aram I. |
| Wasgen I. |
Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church 1995–1999 |
Karekin II. Nersissian |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sarkissian, Karekin |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Sarkissian, Neshad (baptismal name); Karekin II (name as Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia); Karekin I. (name as Supreme Catholicos of all Armenians) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Armenian clergyman, Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 27, 1932 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kessab , Syria |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 29, 1999 |
| Place of death | Yerevan |