Karekin I
Encyclopedia
Karekin I (Armenian
Armenian language
The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...

: ) (August 27, 1932 - June 29, 1999), served as the Catholicos
Catholicos
Catholicos, plural Catholicoi, is a title used for the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and in some cases is borne by the designated head of an autonomous church, in which case the holder might have other titles such as Patriarch...

 of the Armenian Apostolic Church
Armenian Apostolic Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church, is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...

 between 1995 and 1999. Previously, he served as the Catholicos of Cilicia from 1983 to 1994 under the name Karekin II (Armenian
Armenian language
The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...

: ).

Beginnings

Karekin, baptized Neshan Sarkissian, was born in Kesab, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

, where he attended the Armenian elementary school. In 1946 he was admitted to the Theological Seminary of the Armenian Catholicate of Cilicia and in 1949 ordained a deacon. In 1952, after having graduated with high honors, he was ordained a celibate priest and renamed Karekin. He joined the order of the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia.

In 1955 he presented his doctoral thesis on the subject "The Theology of the Armenian Church, According to Liturgical Hymns Sharakans" and was promoted to the ecclesiastical degree of Vardapet
Vardapet
A Vardapet is a highly-educated archimandrite in the Armenian Apostolic Church tradition who holds a Doctorate in Theology.In the English-speaking world, the best-known of the doctor-monks of Armenia is Mekhitar of Sebaste, founder of an Armenian Catholic community of monks, the...

. In next year he served as member of the faculty of the theological seminary in Antelias
Antelias
Antelias is a town in Lebanon. It is located around 5 km to the north of Beirut. Its inhabitants are mainly Christians and include Armenians , Maronites, Greek Catholics and Greek Orthodox ....

, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

. He studied theology for two years at Oxford University and wrote The Council of Chalcedon and the Armenian Church, published in 1965 in London. Upon his return to Lebanon, he served as dean of the seminary.

From 1963, he became an aide to Catholicos Khoren I
Khoren I
Khoren I Mesrop Paroyan was the Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia, from 1963 to 1983.He was preceded by Zareh I...

 in which function he had many ecumenical contacts. He served as observer at the Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...

, the Lambeth Conference of 1968 and the Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...

 Conference of the heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. He lectured on theology, literature, history and culture at universities in Beirut, Romania, Moscow and Kotayyam (India).

His ecclesiastical career advanced quickly: In 1963 he was elevated to senior archmandrite and on January 19, 1964, consecrated bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 by Catholicos Khoren.

In 1971 he was elected Prelate of the Diocese of New Julfa
New Julfa
New Julfa is the Armenian quarter of Isfahan, Iran, located along the south bank of the river Zayandeh River....

 in Isfahan, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

.

In 1973, he received the rank of archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...

 and was appointed Pontifical Legate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....

 of the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenia's Holy Apostolic Church of America (in New York) and in 1975 its Primate
Primate (religion)
Primate is a title or rank bestowed on some bishops in certain Christian churches. Depending on the particular tradition, it can denote either jurisdictional authority or ceremonial precedence ....

.

During his time in the United States, he took special care of the younger generation of Armenians and played a key role in the fundraising for Lebanon 1976-1977.

Catholicos Coadjutor of the Holy See of Cilicia (1977-1983)

In 1977, he was elected Catholicos of the Catholicosate of Cilicia and served as Catholicos Coadjutor until the death of Catholicos Khoren I
Khoren I
Khoren I Mesrop Paroyan was the Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia, from 1963 to 1983.He was preceded by Zareh I...

 in 1983.

Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia (1983-1994)

When fully installed as Catholicos Karekin II of the Great House of Cilicia, he lavished special attention on religious education, modernizing and promoting the theological seminary. His pontifical visits took him to Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Cyprus, the United States and Canada, as well as Kuwait and the other Arab states of the Persian Gulf
Arab states of the Persian Gulf
"Arab states of the Persian Gulf" or "Arab Persian Gulf states" or "Persian Gulf Arab states" or "Arabic Persian Gulf states" or "Arab States of The Gulf", are terms that refer to the six Arab states of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, bordering the Persian Gulf....

.

Another important facet of his Catholicosate were his ecumenical contacts. Karekin II undertook ecumenical visits to Pope John Paul II, Robert Runcie
Robert Runcie
Robert Alexander Kennedy Runcie, Baron Runcie, PC, MC was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1980 to 1991.-Early life:...

, the Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...

, and Shenouda III, Pope of the Coptic Church, but also to the Swiss Reformed Church
Swiss Reformed Church
The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Bern , St...

es and the Lutheran Churches of Denmark and Germany. In 1989 he was elected honorary president of the Middle East Council of Churches
Middle East Council of Churches
After many years of preliminary moves, the Middle East Council of Churches was inaugurated in May 1974 at its First General Assembly in Nicosia, Cyprus. Initially it contained three "families" of Christian Churches in the Middle East, the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Oriental Orthodox Churches...

.

Karekin wrote several books and booklets in Armenian
Armenian language
The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...

, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 and published many articles and studies on theological, Armenological, philosophical, ethical and literary subjects in periodicals.

He also made frequent visits to the Mother See of the Apostolic Church and expressed solidarity on a visit of the earthquake area in Armenia 1988 together with Catholicos Vazgen I
Vazgen I
His Holiness Vazgen I was the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church between 1955 and 1994, in one of the longest reigns of the Armenian Catholicoi. A native of Romania, he began his career as a philosopher, before becoming a Doctor of Theology and a member of the local Armenian clergy...

.

Catholicos of All Armenians, Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin (1994-1999)

After the death of Catholicos Vazgen I
Vazgen I
His Holiness Vazgen I was the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church between 1955 and 1994, in one of the longest reigns of the Armenian Catholicoi. A native of Romania, he began his career as a philosopher, before becoming a Doctor of Theology and a member of the local Armenian clergy...

 in 1994, Catholicos Karekin Sarkissian was elected Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians by a National Ecclesiastical Assembly of 400 delegates and hereafter became known as Karekin I, being the first Supreme Patriarch with that name.

In November 1998, Karekin I underwent cancer treatment in New York. He appointed archbishop Karekin Nersessian, the later Karekin II
Karekin II
Catholicos Karekin II is the current head of the Holy Armenian Apostolic Church.He was born as Ktrij Nersessian in Voskehat, Armenia, on August 21, 1951. He entered the Gevorkian Theological Seminary at Echmiadzin in 1965 and graduated with honors in 1971. He was ordained to the diaconate deacon...

, as Vicar General. Karekin I died in June 1999.

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