NEW YORK—His Grace Bishop Anoushavan Tanielian was elected to serve as the new prelate of the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America on Saturday, September 8, at a special session of the Prelacy’s National Representative Assembly that convened at St. Illuminator’s Armenian Apostolic Cathedral in New York City with 62 duly elected delegates in attendance.
The only agenda item was the election of a new prelate to succeed Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan who is retiring after 20 years of distinguished service as Prelate. Bishop Anoushavan was elected on the first ballot from a slate of three candidates submitted by His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Holy See of the Great House of Cilicia. Bishop Anoushavan received 39 votes; Bishop Shahe Panossian received 20 votes; Very Rev. Fr. Sahag Yemishian received 2 votes; 1 blank ballot was submitted.
Archbishop Oshagan addressed the delegates after the vote. He congratulated Bishop Anoushavan and officially introduced him. The newly elected prelate humbly addressed the delegates expressing his thanks and asking for prayers. The results of the election were immediately communicated to His Holiness Aram I, and a letter dated September 11, 2018 was received from His Holiness ratifying the election.
Bishop Anoushavan was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1951. He graduated from the Armenian Theological Seminary in Antelias, Lebanon, in 1971, and was ordained as a priest in 1972. He continued his higher education and received degrees from the Near East School of Theology (MDiv 1983), Princeton Theological Seminary (ThM 1985) and Columbia University (MPhil 1992, and later PhD in 2003). He was consecrated a Bishop on June 4, 2006, by His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia. He was the founding director of the St. Gregory of Datev Summer Institute and continues to serve as an instructor. Most recently, he has been serving as the Vicar General of the Eastern Prelacy.
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