Zareh I Payaslian ( hy, Զարեհ Ա. Փայասլեան) (14 February 1915, Marash – 18 February 1963,
Beirut,
Lebanon) was
Catholicos of Cilicia of the
Armenian Apostolic Church from 1956 to 1963.
Life
Zareh I was born in 1915, in
Marash,
Ottoman Empire as Simon Payaslian. Escaping the events of the
Armenian genocide, his family moved to
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, residing in the city of
Hama
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, then in
Aleppo
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. He received his primary education in Mesrobian and Haygazian schools in Aleppo. He received his secondary education in the
Jesuit
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Seminary in Aleppo. Later, he became a graduate of the
Antelias
Antelias ( ar, أنطلياس) is a city in Lebanon in the Matn District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate. It is located around 5 km to the north of Beirut.
Etymology
The name is originally Greek, ἀντήλιος – from ἀντί(ant ...
Seminary of the
Armenian Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia
The Armenian Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia ( hy, Կաթողիկոսութիւն Հայոց Մեծի Տանն Կիլիկիոյ) is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church. Since 1930, the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilic ...
. In 1935, he was ordained as a priest and took the name Zareh. He continued his higher education in Belgium between 1937–1940. Starting in 1940, he served in the Armenian prelacy of Aleppo. He became
Primate of Aleppo, Syria in 1943 until 1956. in 1946, he founded the
Karen Jeppe Armenian College of Aleppo.
On 20 February 1956, Zareh Payaslian was elected as Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia, during very acrimonious times between various Armenian political factions that had left the position vacant for around 4 years since the death of the Catholicos
Karekin I in 1952. After his election, Zareh I tried to restore some harmony between various Armenian factions, particularly after the inter-Armenian strife in Lebanon in 1958.
During his reign, the Catholicosate became a full member of the
World Council of Churches in 1962, and sent observers to the
Vatican Council II.
Zareh died in 1963 at the age of 48.
Legacy
On 2 April 1946, Zareh Payaslian was awarded the
Syrian Order of Merit of the First Degree by the
Syrian government
Government of the Syrian Arab Republic is the union government created by the constitution of Syria where by the president is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Syr ...
, for his national patriotic role against the
French mandate over Syria.
A street in Aleppo is named after the Catholicos Zareh I. His statue was erected in the Karen Jeppe College yard.
He wrote a number of studies about
John the Golden Mouthed.
Alepporthodox.org
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References
{{Authority control
Catholicoi of Cilicia
1915 births
1963 deaths
Religious leaders from Beirut
Lebanese people of Armenian descent
Armenian Oriental Orthodox Christians