Manuel Batakian, I.C.P.B. (November 5, 1929 – October 18, 2021) was a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in the United States. He served as an

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

to the Armenian Catholic Patriarch from 1995 to 2000, as the third

exarch An exarch (; from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'') was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical. In the late Roman Empire and early Byzantine Empire, ...

of the Apostolic Exarchate of United States of America and Canada from 2000 to 2005, and as the first

eparch Eparchy ( ''eparchía'' "overlordship") is an Ecclesiology, ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. An eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the administra ...

(bishop) of Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg in New York from 2005 to 2011.

Biography

Born in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, Greece, Batakian was ordained a priest for the

Patriarchal Congregation of Bzommar The Patriarchal Congregation of Bzommar () is an Armenian Catholic religious congregation of priests which was founded in 1750. They use the initials I.C.P.B. after their names. They were established when the Patriarch of Cilicia, head of the Arm ...

on December 8, 1954. He held various offices as a priest. From 1978 to 1984 Batakian served as the Patriarchal Vicar for the Institute of the Patriarchal Clergy of Bzommar. He then served as the rector of the Armenian Catholic Cathedral in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

of the Eparchy of Sainte-Croix-de-Paris. In 1990 he was named as the rector of the Pontifical Armenian College in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

named Batakian as the

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of ''Caesarea in Cappadocia degli Armeni'' and the Auxiliary Bishop of

Cilicia Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain (). The region inclu ...

on November 11, 1994. He was ordained a bishop by Patriarch

Jean Pierre XVIII Kasparian Hovhannes Bedros XVIII Kasparian, I.P.C.B. (in Armenian Յովհաննէս Պետրոս ԺԸ Գասպարեան; English: John Petros XVIII Kasparian, French: Jean Pierre XVIII Kasparian; 20 January 1927 – 16 January 2011) was the Armenian Cath ...

of the

Armenian Catholic Church The Armenian Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic particular church ''sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church. It accepts the papal supremacy, leadership of the bishop of Rome, and is therefore in full communion with ...

on March 12, 1995. The principal co-consecrators were Eparchs Grégoire Ghabroyan, I.C.P.B. of Sainte-Croix-de-Paris and

André Bedoglouyan André Bedoglouyan (February 18, 1920 – April 13, 2010) was a Lebanese-Armenian hierarch of the Armenian Catholic Church. Bedoglouyan was born in Zahlé, Lebanon and was ordained a priest on December 25, 1945, from the religious order Institu ...

, I.C.P.B., the auxiliary of Cilicia. Batakian was named the exarch in the United States of America and Canada by Pope John Paul on November 30, 2000. He became the first eparch of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg in New York when

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

elevated the North American church to an eparchy, or

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

, on September 12, 2005. He served as eparch in New York until his resignation was accepted by Pope Benedict on May 21, 2011. Batakian died on October 18, 2021.Bishop Manuel Batakian, I.C.P.B.
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References

External links

Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg Official Site

Episcopal succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batakian, Manuel 1929 births 2021 deaths Clergy from Athens Members of the Patriarchal Congregation of Bzommar Greek people of Armenian descent Bishops of the Armenian Catholic Church 20th-century Eastern Catholic bishops 21st-century Eastern Catholic bishops American Eastern Catholic bishops 20th-century American clergy 21st-century American Roman Catholic bishops 20th-century American Roman Catholic bishops

Biography

See also

References

External links

Episcopal succession