Archbishop Vicken Aykazian
Archbishop Vicken Aykazian was born in 1951, in Sghert, Turkey. He received his primary education at the Holy Cross Seminary in Istanbul. Continuing in his theological education he attended Jarankavoratz Theological Seminary at the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
In 1968, he was ordained to the diaconate.
In 1971, he was ordained as a celibate priest and given the priestly name of Vicken.
From 1972 to 1974, he worked as the translator at the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, then, as a teacher at the Jarankavoratz Theological Seminary.
From 1974 to 1975, he served as a preacher at the Armenian churches in Istanbul.
From 1975 to 1979, he studied at Kings College in London.
From 1980 to 1992, he was assigned to serve as the spiritual pastor to the Armenian faithful in Switzerland.
From 1985 to 1991, Father Vicken represented the Armenian Church to the World Council of Churches. During his tenure, he was elected as a member of the Central Administration of the Council.
In 1992, he was consecrated as a Bishop by the Catholicos of All Armenians, His Holiness Vasken I, of Blessed Memory in the Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin.
From 1992 to 1996, Bishop Vicken served as the Primate of the Armenian Church Diocese of Switzerland.
From 1994 to 1995, His Grace served as the assistant to His Beatitude Torkom Manoukian, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem. He studied at St. Augustine’s College in Canterbury, England; he received a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Kings College in London; and completed the Ph.D. course requirements at Fribourg Catholic University in Switzerland. He also received his Ph.D. from the Armenian Academy of Sciences’ Department of History.
From 1997 to 1999, he served as the In-County Director of the Fund for Armenian Relief Organization (FAR), a charitable arm of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America.
In 2006, Bishop Vicken was elevated to the rank of Archbishop by the Pontifical Encyclical of His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians.
From 2006 to 2010, His Eminence was elected as the President of the National Council of Churches in the United States.
From 2004 to 2012, he served as the President of the “Habitat” International Charitable Foundation in the USA.
Since 2006, Archbishop Vicken is the Chairman of the Finance Committee and the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches.
Since 2006, His Eminence is the Secretary of the Central Board of the National Council of Churches of Christ (NCC).
