Hovhannes Tertzakian, 78; Church Leader
From Associated Press
Bishop Hovhannes Tertzakian, former leader of the Armenian Catholic Church in the United States and Canada, has died. He was 78.
Tertzakian was struck by a car in front of his home in Belmont, Mass., a Boston suburb, Monday and was pronounced dead later that day at Mt. Auburn Hospital. The matter was under investigation by the Middlesex County district attorney’s office.
From 1995 to 2000, Tertzakian led the Apostolic Exarchate for Armenian Catholics in the United States and Canada, overseeing about 36,000 Armenian Catholics from his headquarters at St. Ann’s Cathedral in New York.
An exarchy is a church jurisdiction established for Eastern Catholics living outside their native lands.
Tertzakian was born in Aleppo, Syria, and entered the Mekhitarist Monastery of St. Lazarus in Venice, Italy, in 1935.
He served as rector of Moorat-Raphael College in Venice and of Samuel-Moorat College in Sevres, France, as well as an administrator at schools in Egypt and Syria before moving to the United States in 1986. He was elevated to leadership of the exarchy in 1995 by Pope John Paul II.
A funeral Mass was scheduled for Saturday at Holy Cross Armenian Catholic Church in Belmont. Tertzakian will be buried in Venice.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
