“The Synod of Bishops of the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate of Cilicia, convened in Rome on September 22 and 23 by His Holiness Pope Francis, elected the Armenian Catholic Patriarch of Cilicia in the person of His Grace Archbishop Raphael Minasyan, Titular Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia of the Armenians and Ordinary of the Armenian Catholics of Armenia, Georgia, Russia and Eastern Europe. The newly elected Patriarch has taken the name His Beatitude Raphael Petros XXI Minasyan.” The news is announced by the Holy See Press Office.
His Grace Archbishop Raphael Minasyan was born on October 24, 1946.
In 1958, he entered the preparatory seminary of the Patriarchal Congregation of Bzommar, where he received his secondary education.
In 1966, he was sent to the Pontifical Armenian College in Rome and studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he obtained degrees in philosophy and theology. He continued his studies at the Salesian University in Rome, specialising in pastoral psychology.
On June 24, 1973, he was ordained a celibate priest in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon.
Until 1980, he served as pastor of the Armenian Catholic Cathedral of Saint Gregory the Illuminator – Saint Elijah in Beirut. In 1978, he was appointed secretary of the Armenian Catholic Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Lebanon, then ecclesiastical judge, until 1989.
From 1980 to 1984, he taught liturgy at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik in Beirut.
From 1983 to 1986, he was pastor of the Holy Cross Church in Zalka (Lebanon). It was thanks to him that the Holy Cross Church of Zalka was built.
From 1986 to 1988, he served as patriarchal secretary.
From 1988 to 1990, he was again appointed pastor of the Holy Cross Church of Zalka, while also serving as director of the newly built patriarchal school.
From 1990 to 2006, he was appointed pastor in the state of California, USA.
He was one of the principal founding members of the “Armenian Alliance” charitable foundation, under whose auspices numerous humanitarian and charitable programmes were carried out in Armenia. Father Raphael Minasyan undertook the construction of the Armenian Catholic Church of Saint Gregory the Illuminator in Glendale, which was consecrated in 2001, in commemoration of the 1700th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity in Armenia.
In September 2005, His Beatitude Nerses Petros XIX, Catholicos Patriarch, appointed Raphael Fr. Minasyan as patriarchal Vicar of the Vicariate of Jerusalem and Amman.
In 2005, he founded the “Tele Pace Armenia” television station in Italy.
In 2009, at the 4th Station of the Via Dolorosa in the Armenian Catholic compound in Jerusalem, Father Raphael established perpetual adoration of the Holy Eucharist, the continuity of which is ensured by the Sisters of the Congregation of Saint Paul.
On June 24, 2011, by special papal brief of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, Fr. Raphael Minasyan was elevated to the episcopal rank, as newly appointed Titular Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia of the Armenians and Ordinary of the Armenian Catholics of Armenia, Georgia, Russia and Eastern Europe.
The episcopal consecration took place on July 16, 2011, at the Armenian Catholic Cathedral of Saint Gregory the Illuminator – Saint Elijah in Beirut, by the hands of His Beatitude Nerses Petros XIX, Catholicos Patriarch, in the presence of His Eminence Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Oriental Churches.
On August 7, 2011, the enthronement ceremony of Father Archbishop Raphael Minasyan took place at the Saint Gregory the Illuminator Church in the village of Arevik in the Shirak Province.
On September 23, His Grace Archbishop Raphael Minasyan became the 21st Catholicos Patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church of Cilicia, taking the name His Beatitude Raphael Petros XXI Minasyan.
