EUROPE/ITALY – The Armenian Catholic Bishops committed to beginning the process of canonization of Cardinal Agagianian, Prefect of Propaganda Fide from 1960 to 1970
Rome (Agenzia Fides) – The Bishops of the Patriarchal Church of Cilicia of the Armenians, gathered in Synod in Rome from February 4 to 12 at the Pontifical Armenian College “in Urbe” under the chairmanship of Patriarch Raphael Bedros XXI Minassian, discussed during the working sessions the procedures and actions necessary to begin the cause of canonization of Cardinal and Patriarch Krikor Bedros Agagianian, who from 1960 to 1970 was Prefect of the Congregation of Propaganda Fide. The final communiqué of the work of the Synod indicates that the search for testimonies and useful material for the smooth running of the different phases of the canonization process will be launched once it has begun. Among other things, it was also decided to start the drafting of studies useful for reconstructing the biography of Cardinal Agagianian, according to adequate historiographical parameters. On February 4, 2020, the Vicariate of Rome – the city where Cardinal Agagianian died and is buried – had asked to collect and send all the writings of the Cardinal to its Court of Appeal, in order to study them and then be able to submit to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints the request for the official opening of the canonization process.
Ghazaros Agagianian, born in Akhaltsikhe (in present-day Georgia) in September 1895, played a prominent role in the affairs of the Church of Rome in the decades before and after the Second Vatican Council. Ordained a priest of the Armenian Catholic Church on December 23, 1917, he joined the teaching staff of the Pontifical Armenian College in 1921 and became its rector from 1932 to 1937. He was appointed Titular Bishop of Comana of the Armenians in 1935, and elected Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians on November 30, 1937, with the name of Krikor Bedros (Grégoire Pierre) XV. On February 18, 1946, he was created Cardinal by Pope Pius XII. From 18 July 1960 to 19 October 1970 Cardinal Agagianian led as Prefect the Sacred Congregation “De Propaganda Fide”, which took its current name of Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples on August 15, 1967. Cardinal Agagianian, who had renounced the patriarchal title in 1962, died on May 16, 1971 in Rome, where he is buried in the church of St. Nicholas of Tolentino. (GV) (Agenzia Fides, 14/2/2022)
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