VENICE–The Mekhitarist order convened a general meeting Monday where they elected Right Rev. Vartan Keshishian as the General Abbot for the Venice Monastery.
Right Rev. Keshishian was born in Syria in 1933 and moved to the St. Lazzarus seminary in 1948 where he received his education. In 1958 he moved to Rome where he received degrees in philosophy and theology from the St. Gregory Jesuit University.
He was ordained a celibate priest in 1960 and joined Mekhitarist Order.
He has taught and administered in several Mekhitarist schools in Aleppo–Beirut and Sevres from 1961 to 1978–after which he was named principal of the Mourad Rafaelian seminary in Venice where he served until 1982.
He was the principal at the Paris seminary from 1984 to 1990–after which he was named principal and dean of the Mekhitarist school in Buenos Aires.
Right. Rev. Keshishian’s works have been published in numerous journals and publications– including the Bazmavep publication of the Mekhitarist Order.