BAGHDAD, Iraq, JAN. 26, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict
XVI approved the canonical election of Father Emmanuel Dabbaghian as
archbishop of Baghdad of the Armenians by the Synod of Bishops of
the Armenian Catholic Church.
The Vatican press office confirmed this news today.
The bishop-elect, 73, is currently the vicar for Georgia of the
Ordinariate for Armenians of Eastern Europe. His successor,
Archbishop Paul Coussa, 89, retired in 2001.
The bishop-elect is a native of Aleppo, Syria, and was ordained a
priest in 1967 as a member of the Institute of the patriarchal
clergy of Bzommar, Lebanon.
He studied philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University in
Rome.
Until his election, Bishop-elect Dabbaghian was a parish priest in
Tiflis, Georgia, and responsible for the Armenian-Catholic Seminary.
The Archdiocese of Baghdad for the Armenians has 2,000 faithful.
In addition to the Armenian archbishop, the Chaldean patriarch and
the Latin and Syrian archbishops also have their sees in the Iraqi
capital. All are in communion with the Pope.
