Archbishop Antranik Aivazian elected Bishop of Armenian Catholic Diocese of Qamishli and its dependencies

ZALIN, Syria — Pope Francis approved the election of Archbishop Antranik Aivazian as Bishop of the Armenian Catholic Diocese of Qamishli and Its Dependencies. Additionally, Archbishop Georges Iskandar was elected Metropolitan of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Tyre and Its Dependencies and Rev. François Beyrouti as Bishop of the Melkite Eparchy of Newton in the United States.

Archbishop Aivazian, who was elected to the Synod of the Armenian Catholic Church, was born in 1947, in Zalin (Qamishli).

Aivazian entered the Minor Seminary in Bzommar, Lebanon, and continued his studies at Saint Joseph University in Beirut before moving to Rome to study philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University.

He was ordained a priest in 1972 on the altars of the Diocese of Qamishli where he served the parishes of Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor. In 1984, he was granted the rank of Archbishop.

During his priestly service, he established pastoral activities for youth and people with special needs. He was the director of several schools in his diocese, a lecturer at Yerevan Public University in Armenia, and he also established the Saint George Shrine in Ad-Darbasiyah. He is also the director of Maryam Radio in Armenia.

In addition to the election of Archbishop Antranik, the Vatican also approved the election of Archbishop Georges Iskandar as Metropolitan of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Tyre and Its Dependencies, and Rev. François Beyrouti as Bishop of the Melkite Eparchy of Newton in the United States.