One of the senior members of the Bzommar Patriarchal Clergy Institute, Very Rev. Fr. Hovsep Kelekian, baptismal name Antoine, born in Beirut on 18 April 1950, has passed away.
On 1 October 1959 he was admitted to the novitiate of the Bzommar monastery, and later, for higher studies, attended the Pontifical Armenian Leonine College in Rome.
He followed courses in canon law at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome.
On 9 December 1973 he was ordained a celibate priest by Catholicos Ignatius Bedros XVI Batanian.
He received the rank of Supreme Archimandrite.
In 2011-2013 he was named Patriarchal Vicar of Jerusalem and Jordan and received the rank of Mitred Supreme Archimandrite.
In 2013 he was appointed pastor of the Armenian Catholic Church of Our Lady of Nareg in Lyon.
In 2014-2024 he was Vicar General of the Armenian Catholic Eparchy of France and pastor of the Holy Cross cathedral church.
In 2024-2026, because of illness, he was moved to a rest home until his death.
Very Rev. Hovsep Kelekian was a skilled specialist in hymnology, sharagans. With his own voice he recorded the priest’s song part of the Holy Liturgy, with the participation of the choir of the “Our Lady of Armenia” center.
Very Rev. Fr. Hovsep Kelekian Has Passed Away
