The Very Revd. Fr. Manuel Yergatyan, entered eternal rest following long
years of cardiac treatment, on February 11, 2004, in Almelo, the
Netherlands.

He was born on September 11, 1954, in Istanbul, Turkey, the second son of
Haci (Armenian Orthodox) and Sabahat (Turkish Moslem). Baptised in the Holy
Mother-of-God Patriarchal Church by the Revd. Fr. Garabed Balian on December
4, 1959, his godfather was the Revd. Deacon Antranig Hallajian and his
baptismal name was Haig.

He was a pupil at the St. Mesrob Armenian Parish School in Gedikpasha and
attended the children’s choirs in the Armenian parish churches of Gedikpasha
and Bakirkoey.

In 1968, Haig was taken to the Patriarchal Theological School in Jerusalem
by the Revd. Fr. Partogh Kherkaciyan. In 1973, now a graduate of the
seminary, he was ordained a subdeacon by His Grace Archbishop Shahe
Adjemian. In 1974, he returned to Turkey to fulfil his mandatory military
service. On completing this duty, he renewed his vow to seek a priestly
vocation.

On August 5, 1976, he officially applied to His Beatitude Patriarch Shnorhk
of Istanbul for priestly ordination. The following week he was ordained a
Deacon by His Grace Bishop Shahan Sývacýyan and priest by His Beatitude
Patriarch Shnorhk on August 22, 1976 during the Divine Liturgy celebrated in
the Armenian Parish Church of the Holy Mother-of-God in Ortaköy, and was
given the name in religion of Fr. Manuel.
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His Beatitude Patriarch Shnorhk, on April 6, 1978, gave Fr. Manuel
permission to become a member of the Brotherhood of Sts. James of the
Armenian Patriarchal See of Jerusalem, and he was received into that
Brotherhood by His Beatitude Patriarch Yeghishe II of Jerusalem. For two
years he served the Brotherhood as the Administrator of the Patriarchal
Seminary, giving of his time and effort, selflessly and unsparingly. A
gifted painter, he also executed several religious paintings for the holy
shrines at Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

At the end of August, 1980, Fr. Manuel returned to Turkey for his summer
vacation and to seek new vocations for the Jerusalem seminary. On his return
trip he was arrested at Yeshilkoey Airport in Istanbul on October 13, 1980.
He and the five new candidates for the seminary were held for interrogation.
Though the candidates were later released, Fr. Manuel himself remained in
custody. A temporary military court decided to keep him imprisoned on
November 13, 1980. Patriarch Shnorhk, of blessed memory, delegated a team of
lawyers, headed by Attorney Hasan Basri Oezturk to work for Fr.Manuel’s
release. Subsequently, for reasons unexplained, they decided to withdraw
from the case. On September 2, 1982 Patriarch Shnorhk appeared in court to
speak on behalf of Fr. Manuel. However a former seminarian out, Mikael
Saglam, testified in court claiming that Fr. Manuel had organised
anti-Turkish manifestations in Jerusalem and that he had heard from more
senior seminarians that Fr. Manuel had named one of his pet dogs ‘Ataturk’,
the founder of the modern Republic of Turkey. The final verdict of the
military court, issued on March 18, 1983, was that he should be imprisoned
for 14 years. His crime: “that whilst in a foreign country, and making use
of his religious ministry, he had been involved in activities against the
national interests of Turkey”. However he was released on May 18, 1986,
following a general amnesty. Whilst under parole from 1986 to 1991, Fr.
Manuel served as an auxiliary priest in Istanbul, and resided at the
Patriarchate. Finally, he received a passport and obtained permission to
leave the country on December 30, 1991.

He then ministered as the pastor of Armenians living in the Netherlands
under the Armenian Orthodox jurisdiction of Western Europe, centred in
Paris.

For the last few years, Fr. Manuel’s cardiac condition deteriorated and he
thought it best that he should retire. The Dutch Government generously
provided the nec