PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: cathcil@cathcil.org
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Antelias Mourns the Passing of Archbishop Vartan Demirdjian

Antelias, Lebanon – His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia, members of
the Brotherhood of Cilicia, announce with deepest sadness the passing of His
Eminence Archbishop Vartan Demirdjian. Archbishop Vartan died suddenly in
Antelias, Lebanon, on Thursday, September 9. He was 65 years old.

The Extreme Unction and Burial services will take place on Saturday,
September 11, 2004, at 11 a.m. at St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in
Antelias. Interment will follow in the Mausoleum of the Holy See of Cilicia.

His Holiness Aram I will preside over the services.

Archbishop Demirdjian, a member of the Cilician Brotherhood, was born in
Lebanon in 1939. He was ordained a celibate priest in 1957 and was
consecrated a Bishop in 1977. He has served the Armenian Church in various
capacities including several years of service in Iran and Greece, as a
teacher at the Cilician See’s Theological Seminary, and Director of the
Printing House. At the time of his death he was the Librarian at the
Catholicosate’s Library.

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View printable pictures here:

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The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.