YEREVAN, AUGUST 1, ARMENPRESS. Nearly five months since the passing of Mesrob II, the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople (Istanbul) has launched its organizational work to hold an election of a new patriarch.

A new patriarch will be elected by spiritual and secular delegates, who themselves are yet to be elected. The election of these delegates will take place on December 7 and 8. The patriarchate seeks to hold the election of a patriarch on December 11, and it has applied to the Ministry of Interior of Turkey through the Government of Istanbul Province with a request to confirm the dates, the patriarchate said on its social media account.

Mesrob II Mutafyan of Constantinople was the 84th Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople. He was elected patriarch in 1998, but ten years later was incapacitated due to Alzheimer’s disease. However, officially he remained patriarch.

He died in a comatose condition on March 8, 2019 in hospital at the age of 62.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan