Dzomar–Lebanon–The Armenian Catholic Patriarch John-Peter XVIII resigned his post effective September 3–announced the Armenian Catholic Archdiocese Wednesday.
John-Peter XVIII–who has been the Armenian Catholic Patriarch since 1982–expressed his intention to resign to the Catholic Church Synod on November 25–1998.
In May the Catholic Synod met with the Pope and discussed the Patriarch’s resignation. The Papal approval was dispatched in June.
The Synod–or the church council–met in the Our Lady of Dzomar Monastery in Lebanon on Sept. 1 and after careful review–decided to approve the Patriarch’s resignation effective Sept. 3.
Lebanon Catholic Church leader Bishop Manuel Batakian was appointed patriarchal locum tenens.
A Bishop’s Synod is scheduled for Oct. 2 in Lebanon to elect a new patriarch.