Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem To Highlight ASP Annual Dinner

Staff Report

Mark your calendars now! On Thursday, December 10, 1998, the Armenian Studies Program 13th Annual Dinner will feature His Beatitude Archbishop Torkom Manoogian, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem as guest speaker.

The exhibit “On the Dome of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem” by local artist Corky Normart will also be featured that evening. His Beatitude Archbishop Torkom Manoogian was born on February 16, 1919, in a refugee camp near the desert town of Baquba, north of Baghdad, Iraq. After completing his elementary education at the Holy Translators Armenian School in Baghdad, he entered the theological seminary of the Armenian Patriarchate of St. James in Jerusalem as the youngest student of his class. On August 2, 1936, he was ordained into the holy diaconate by his spiritual father and favorite teacher, the late Patriarch, Archbishop Torkom Koushagian. At his ordination as a priest on July 23, 1939, he was given the name Torkom.

After four years as Primate of the Western Diocese, in April 1966, Bishop Torkom was elected Primate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America. Two years later, on the occasion of the consecration of St. Vartan Cathedral, the first Armenian cathedral in America in whose construction he played a pivotal role, the late Holiness Vazken I conferred upon Bishop Torkom the title of Archbishop. Having served six consecutive terms as Primate of the Eastern Diocese”24 years”Archbishop Torkom was elected Patriarch of Jerusalem on March 22, 1990.

His Beatitude holds several academic honors, including an honorary doctorate granted to him by the General Theological Seminary in New York. In 1986 he was the recipient of two prestigious American medals: the Statue of Liberty Medal, and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. January 18, 1990 marked the 50th anniversary of his ordination, an. event celebrated nationwide in the United States. A musician, choral conductor, composer, poet and writer, Archbishop Torkom has a wide range of personal interests and pursuits.