Hye Sharzhoom Armenian Action
Photo: Courtesy Paul Flores Photography and the Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg
Bryan Tellalian
Special to Hye Sharzhoom
On Monday, May 30, 2022, His Beatitude Raphael Bedros XXI, Armenian Catholic Patriarch of the See of Cilicia, made the first official visit of an Armenian Catholic Patriarch to the city of Fresno. His Beatitude is the spiritual father for Armenian Catholics throughout the world.
In Fresno, His Beatitude led a prayer service and laid a wreath at the Armenian Genocide Memorial at Fresno State. He praised the United States for giving Armenians a place to call home and to practice their faith. The visit to the Memorial was extended by Berj Apkarian, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Armenia in Fresno. Representing Fresno State were Vice President for Administration and CFO Deborah Adishian-Astone, who attended on behalf of President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, and Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian, Berberian Coordinator of the Armenian Studies Program.
Later the same evening, His Beatitude was greeted by the Most Reverend Joseph V. Brennan, Bishop of the Diocese of Fresno, at St. John’s Cathedral. There, the Patriarch celebrated vespers in the Armenian Catholic Rite and then attended a reception with the Armenian Catholic community of Fresno and members from the Latin Rite and Armenian communities.
During his two-week trip to California, His Beatitude was able to connect with various Armenian Catholic communities and raise awareness about the suffering of Armenians in the Middle East and Caucuses. Consequently, he raised funds to aid with his charitable work in the areas that he traveled.
His Beatitude was born on November 24, 1946, in Beirut, Lebanon and ordained a priest in 1973. On July 16, 2011, he was ordained a bishop by His Beatitude Nerses-Bedros XIX in the presence of His Eminence Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, President of the Congregation of Oriental Churches. His Beatitude was enthroned as Patriarch on October 24, 2021.
One of the Eastern Catholic Churches, the Armenian Catholic Church is a self-governing church in union with the Pope. The Armenian Catholic community in Fresno is under the Armenian Catholic Eparchy (Diocese) in the United States and Canada, led by the Most Reverend Mikael Mouradian, Eparch (Bishop), and headquartered in Glendale, California.