His Eminence Archbishop Gyut Nakkashian Enters His Eternal Rest
It is with profound sorrow that we inform our faithful that on April 26, His Eminence Archbishop Gyut Nakkashian entered his eternal rest in Paris. He was one of the senior members of the Brotherhood of Holy Etchmiadzin and a devoted servant of the Armenian Holy Apostolic Church who brought his dedicated service to the Armenian Church and Armenian people for decades. His Eminence was 88 years old. His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, and the clergy deeply mourn the loss of His Eminence Archbishop Gyut Nakkashian. Blessed be the memory of the righteous.
Archbishop Gyut Nakkashian Archbishop Gyut Nakkashian (baptismal name Hovhannes) was born in 1933 in Aleppo, Syria. He received his primary education in the local College of Cilicia.
In 1948 he has educated at the Seminary of Antelias, of the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia.
In 1955 he was ordained as a celibate priest. From 1955 to 1960, he taught in the colleges of Beirut – Tekeyan, Sahakyan and New Higher. During this time, he performed his pastoral service in the Armenian Churches of Beirut and Cyprus.
In 1958, Archbishop Gyut received the rank of Archimandrite (Vardapet) in Etchmiadzin.
In 1960 he was appointed to serve as the spiritual pastor of St. John the Baptist Mother Church of Paris. In 1965 he received the rank of Senior Archimandrite (Dzayraguyn Vardapet).
On September 30, 1973, in the Mother Cathedral, he was ordained and consecrated as a Bishop by His Holiness Vasken I.
In 1984 under the presidency of His Holiness Vasken I, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; he was appointed to serve as the Pontifical Legate of Western Europe. Archbishop Gyut retired in 2009.