Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...

Guregh Israelian () (6 January 1894 – 28 October 1949) was

Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem In 638, the Armenian Apostolic Church began appointing its own bishop in Jerusalem, generally known as the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem. The office has continued, with some interruptions, down to this day. The bishop at the Armenian Patri ...

serving the

Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem also known as the Armenian Patriarchate of Saint James ( hy, Առաքելական Աթոռ Սրբոց Յակովբեանց Յերուսաղեմ, , ) is located in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem. The ...

from 1944 to 1949, succeeding Patriarch Mesrob Nishanian who had served from 1939 to 1944. He was born Dikran Israelian in

New Julfa New Julfa ( fa, نو جلفا – ''Now Jolfā'', – ''Jolfâ-ye Now''; hy, Նոր Ջուղա – ''Nor Jugha'') is the Armenian quarter of Isfahan, Iran, located along the south bank of the Zayande River. Established and named after the old ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. He was ordained deacon in December 1921 and celibate priest (taking the name Guregh) in July 1923. In July 1944 the Brotherhood of St James elected him as locum tenens of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem after the death of Patriarch Mesrob. He was elected Patriarch in October 1944. He was finally consecrated bishop in

Echmiadzin Vagharshapat ( hy, Վաղարշապատ ) is the 4th-largest city in Armenia and the most populous municipal community of Armavir Province, located about west of the capital Yerevan, and north of the closed Turkish-Armenian border. It is comm ...

on 1 July 1945, becoming an archbishop on 16 July 1945. He was installed as Patriarch in the Cathedral of St James on 6 December 1945 after the British

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

had given the necessary assent. He died in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

shortly after an operation. Upon his death in 1949, the position of Patriarch of Jerusalem remained vacant for more than a decade, i.e. from 1949 to 1957 and from 1958 to 1960, with a very brief period when

Tiran Nersoyan Tiran Nersoyan (August 23, 1904 in Antep, Cilicia, Ottoman Empire – September 1, 1989 in New York City) was an Armenian Apostolic clergyman. He was Patriarch-elect of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem very briefly in 1957–1958 but nev ...

was elected as patriarch of Jerusalem (1957–1958), but was never

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

. Only in 1960 was a new Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem officially elected, namely Patriarch Yeghishe Derderian. Earlier since 1949, Derderian was serving as deputy patriarch.

References

Armenian Patriarchs of Jerusalem 1894 births 1949 deaths 20th-century Oriental Orthodox bishops People from Isfahan Persian Armenians {{bishop-stub