Bishop Mikael Bassalé

Msgr. Mikael Bassalé, Ordinary of Greece for Armenian Catholics, was appointed by Pope Francis as Apostolic Administrator in place of Msgr. Hovsep Bezazian, whose resignation as Apostolic Administrator for Armenian Catholics in Greece the Pope accepted. The source identifies him as a member of the patriarchal clergy institute of Zmmar and as former Apostolic Administrator for Armenian Catholics of Eastern Europe. Father Mikael was born in Aleppo on 16 January 1969. He completed primary studies in his birthplace, then in the 1986/1987 school year attended the minor seminary of the Zmmar community in Aleppo. After that he moved to Lebanon, to the monastery of Zmmar; after completing higher studies, he went to Rome, to the Pontifical Armenian College, where he stayed for two years, then returned again to Lebanon and completed philosophical and theological studies. He was ordained a priest on 21 December 1997. He served in various apostolic places, including Lebanon, Armenia, Georgia, and Russia, where he reorganized the Armenian Catholic Church, and then for many years in the United States.