Mesrob II Mutafyan of Constantinople

Who is Mesrob II Mutafyan of Constantinople?

Archbishop Mesrob II Mutafyan, also known as Mesrop Mutafyan is the 84th Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople. The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople is one of the four Sees of Armenian Orthodox Church and has an autocephalous status, accepting, on the other hand, spiritual supremacy of the Catholicos of Armenia and of all Armenians in Holy Echmiadzin.

Mesrob Mutafyan graduated from the American High School in Kornwestheim near Stuttgart, Germany. From 1974 to 1979, he studied philosophy and sociology in Memphis, Tennessee, United States.

On May 13, 1979, he was ordained to priesthood and was commissioned pastor of Kınalıada, one of the Prince's Islands in the Sea of Marmara in İstanbul with a small Armenian community. Between 1979 and 1981, he continued his theological studies in Jerusalem.

On September 21, 1986, Mesrob Mutafyan was elevated to the rank of a Bishop in Echmiadzin, Armenia. From 1982 to 1990, he coordinated the ecumenical relationships of the Patriarchate. He attended the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy in 1988/1989.