Jerusalem Patriarch Archbishop Torkom Manoogian

JERUSALEM—The Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem Archbishop Torkom Manoogian passed away on Friday. He was 93.

The 96th Patriarch of Jerusalem will be interred in Jerusalem, at the Patriarchal Cemetery, on Monday, October 22.

A respected figure among Christians of the Holy Land, Manoogian had been in a coma since January after a stroke. He headed the Armenian Orthodox communities in Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan.

Manoogian was born on February 16, 1919 in a refugee camp for survivors of the Armenian genocide located near Baquba in the Iraqi desert.

He studied theology at the seminary of the Armenian patriarchate of Saint-Jacques in Jerusalem and was ordained in 1939.

In 1946, he was transferred to the United States, where he served as New York’s Armenian bishop and then primate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America.

He was known in Jerusalem for his passion for music.

The Armenian Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, a monastic order, is one of the custodians of the Holy Places, along with the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches as well as the smaller Syriac and Coptic churches.

There are currently an estimated 2,000 Armenians living in Jerusalem, compared to 16,000 in 1948 when the state of Israel was founded.

With a presence in the Holy Land dating back to the 5th century AD, the community is active in commerce, trading and pottery in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.