Nerses Bedros XIX
Encyclopedia
Nerses Bedros XIX (b. 17 January 1940, Cairo, Egypt) is the current patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church
Armenian Catholic Church
|- |The Armenian Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church sui juris in union with the other Eastern Rite, Oriental Rite and Latin Rite Catholics who accept the Bishop of Rome as spiritual leader of the Church. It is regulated by Eastern canon law...
. He was the second son and the fifth of eight children born to Elias Taza and Josephine Azouz. He completed his primary and secondary studies at the College of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (Frères des Ecoles Chrétiennes) in Cairo.
He felt the vocation to priesthood very early in life and thus was sent to the Armenian Leonine Pontifical College in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in 1958 where he studied Philosophy and Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University
Pontifical Gregorian University
The Pontifical Gregorian University is a pontifical university located in Rome, Italy.Heir of the Roman College founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola over 460 years ago, the Gregorian University was the first university founded by the Jesuits...
. His Bishop, Msgr. Raphaël Bayan
Raphaël Bayan
Monsignor Raphaël Bayan was Armenian Catholic Bishop Emeritus of Iskandariya of the Armenians .Born in Zgharta in 1914, he was ordained on 1 November 1937 as a priest. On 12 December 1958, aged 44, he was appointed as Coadjutor Bishop of Iskandariya of the Armenians and Titular Bishop of Taua...
ordained him as a priest in Cairo on 15 August 1965. In Heliopolis he was known as Father Pierre Taza.
He served the parish of the Armenian Catholic Cathedral of the Annunciation in Cairo from 1965 to 1968 with the Rev John Kasparian who, in 1982, became 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...
Patriarch
Patriarch
Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a compound of πατριά , "lineage, descent", esp...
under the name of Hovhannes Bedros XVIII (John Peter XVIII Kasparian). From 1968 to 1990, Father Pierre Taza was curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
of the parish of St Therese of Heliopolis in Cairo.
On 18 February 1990, he was ordained 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...
of the Eparchy
Eparchy
Eparchy is an anglicized Greek word , authentically Latinized as eparchia and loosely translating as 'rule over something,' like province, prefecture, or territory, to have the jurisdiction over, it has specific meanings both in politics, history and in the hierarchy of the Eastern Christian...
(Diocese) of Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
for Egypt and Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
by the imposition of the hands
Laying on of hands
The laying on of hands is a religious ritual that accompanies certain religious practices, which are found throughout the world in varying forms....
of His Beatitude Jean Pierre XVIII. From 1992 to 1997, as member of the Catholic Hierarchy
Hierarchy
A hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another...
of Egypt, he was the General Secretary of the Pastoral Council of the Catholic Church of Egypt.
As a member of the Synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
of the Bishops of the Catholic Armenian Patriarch Church
Armenian Catholic Church
|- |The Armenian Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church sui juris in union with the other Eastern Rite, Oriental Rite and Latin Rite Catholics who accept the Bishop of Rome as spiritual leader of the Church. It is regulated by Eastern canon law...
, he was:
- Member of the Council of the three Bishops to direct the Patriarchal Curie from 1993 to 1995
- President of the Patriarchal Commission for the Vocations from 1993 to 1995
- Member of the Permanent Synod as of 1994
In October 1999, he was elected by the Bishops of the Holy Synod of the Catholic Armenian Synod, Catholicos Patriarch of Cilicia of Armenian Catholics and took the name Nerses Bedros XIX.