Archbishop Voskan Kalpakian

Archbishop Voskan Kalpakian (baptismal name Jirayr) was born on October 12, 1942, in Beirut. He received his primary education at the Forty Martyrs Armenian National School, and in 1957 he graduated from Eshrefi National Secondary College.  

From 1957 to 1960, he worked as a Pharmacist Assistant and an apothecary. 

In 1960, he entered the Gevorkian Theological Seminary at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and graduated in 1964 with excellent scores.  

In 1963, he was ordained to the diaconate by His Eminence Archbishop Haigazun Abrahamyan.

On January 10, 1965, he was ordained as a celibate priest by His Eminence Archbishop Asoghik Ghazaryan, and given the priestly name of Voskan.

In May 1965, he was appointed as the first visiting priest of the newly formed Armenian colony in Melbourne, Australia. 

In 1968, he was appointed to serve as the Vicar General in the Armenian Diocese of Australia.

From 1967 to 1970, he received the ranks of Archimandrite and later Senior Archimandrite by His Eminence Archbishop Haigazun Abrahamyan, at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. Over the course of his service in Australia, he organized the national- church life of the Armenian community in Melbourne, opening the community seminary, publishing the "Hope" Monthly Church chronicle, and establishing the women's and youth associations.

In March 1973, he was elected to serve as a Diocesan Primate by the National Representative Assembly of the Armenian Diocese in Damascus. 

In 1977, Very Rev. Father Voskan Kalpakian was appointed as Permanent Representative of the Armenian Church to the Council of European Churches by His Holiness Vasken I, Catholicos of All Armenians. 

In 1982, Father Voskan was consecrated as a Bishop by the Catholicos of All Armenians, His Holiness Vasken I of Blessed Memory.