Cardinal Agagianian Is Dead; Scholarly Mission Leader, 75 (original) (raw)
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May 17, 1971
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ROME., May 16 (Reuters)—Gregory Cardinal Agagianian, one of the most scholarly and respected members, of the Sacred College of Cardinals, died at his Rome residence tonight. He was 75 years old.
The Armenian‐born Cardinal retired in October after 10 years as chief of the worldwide missions of the Roman Catholic Church. He had long suffered from ill health.
Scholar From Youth
Twice in the last 13 years, Cardinal Agagianian was considered the leading candidate for the Papacy if a non‐Italian were to be elected to the highest post in the Roman Catholic Church. Despite his failure to win eleCtiOn from the Sacred College of Cardinals, he nevertheless made a major impact on the development of the church and its role in the newly developing nations.
He lived almost his entire life in exile from his ‘native Russia because of his work in the Catholic Church, yet served as the spiritual leader for thousands of Armenian Catholics who continued to practice their faith in the southern areas of the Soviet Union.
Gregory Peter XV Cardinal Agagianian was born Lazarus Agagianian in the small village of Akhaltizikhe in the Russian province of Georgia, on Sept. 15, 1895. He attended school in nearby Tiflis until the Maronite fathers of that Armenian city decided that their phenomenally gifted pupil ought to continue his education in Rome.
So, at the age of 11, he went to Rome to enroll in the Propaganda Fide College. He was found far too young to enter the college, but at a group audience with Pope Pius X which he was allowed to attend before being returned to Tiflis, the pontiff singled out the youth, saying: “This small Armenian boy will render great services to the Church.”
Ordained Priest at 22
On the day before Christmas Eve, 1917, he was ordained a priest. Two years later he returned to his native Caucasus to find his home province, like all Russia, torn by the Bolshevik Revolution. But, although tormented by local militant atheists, who slaughtered more than 100 priests and 30,000 members of the community, he served as pastor in Tiflis for two years before being recalled to Rome.
In 1921, he was appointed vice‐rector of the Armenian College in. Rome. In 1932, he became rector and in 1935 was ordained a titular Bishop.
In 1937, Avedis Peter XIV Arpiarian, Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians, died, and the Armenian hierarchy in communion with the Holy See elected Monsignor Agagianian as his succesor. He assumed the name Gregory Peter XV. Beirut became his new headquarters and his flock was scattered throughout the Soviet Union, the Middle East, France, the United States and South America.
Pope Pius XII conferred the red hat of Cardinal on Monsignor Agagianian in his first consistory for the creation of new Cardinals in February, 1946, making him, at 50 years of age, the youngest member of the Sacred College. As Patriarch, he outranked the archbishops and bishops who with him were also elevated to the Cardinalate.
As Cardinal, the learned prelate was able to pursue his scholarly interests. He spoke fluent Armenian, Russian, Italian, French, English and Latin and learned German, Spanish, classical Greek and Arabic.
Twice in the past 13 years, Cardinal Agagianian was considered the leading candidate for the Papacy if a non‐Italian were to be elected to the highest post in the Roman Catholic Church. Yet, despite his failure to win election from the Sacred College of Cardinals, he nevertheless made a major impact on the development of the Church and its role in the newly developing nations.
Lived in Exile
He lived almost his entire life in exile from his native Russia because of his work in the Catholic Church, yet served as the spiritual leader for thousands of Armenian Catholics.
On June 18, 1958, Pope Pius XII was named chief of Roman Catholic missions throughout the world as Pro‐Prefect of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, and within matter of weeks, with the Pope ailing, he began to be mentioned as the foremost contender for the Papacy if a nonItalian Pope were to be elected for the first time since the Renaissance. He was not elected then; five years later, in 1963, his name was again mentioned as a leading contender.
Although never elected Pope, in 1964, as head of the Con gregation for the Propagation of the Faith, he presented set of 12 propositions defining the missionary role. Changes ih missionary circumstances due to the emergence of new third‐world nations require present‐day missionaries to identify with the indigenous cultural patterns and even seek in non‐Christian religions “elements that are in harmony with the gospel message.”
He also never forgot his native Russia, and to his last days, he believed that the people of the Soviet Union would eventually overthrow Communism and “return to the Church.” He retired from his missionary post last year, but continued to live in Rome.
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