Pope Leo XIV canonized Archbishop Maloyan on Oct. 19
Catholic News Agency
Pope Leo XIV canonizef seven new saints on Sunday including an Italian lawyer who renounced Satanism and became “an apostle of the rosary,” a martyred Armenian archbishop, and a Venezuelan considered the “doctor of the poor.”
The canonizations, previously approved by the late Pope Francis, was presided over by Pope Leo XIV on Oct. 19 at the Vatican. The group includes three women and four men, with two martyrs, three laypeople, and two founders of religious orders. Among them are Papua New Guinea’s first saint and the first two saints from Venezuela.
Let’s get to know the Armenian saint:
Ignatius Choukrallah Maloyan (Ottoman Empire, 1869–1915)
Ignatius Maloyan was an Armenian Catholic archbishop of Mardin in the Ottoman Empire who was executed during the Armenian genocide for refusing to convert to Islam and renounce his Christian faith.
At the age of 14, Maloyan was sent to the convent of Bzommar-Lebanon. In 1896, he was ordained a priest in the Church of Bzommar convent and took the name Ignatius in honor of the beloved martyr of Antioch.
From 1892 to 1910, Maloyan was a parish priest in Alexandria and Cairo, where his good reputation was widespread. On Oct. 22, 1911, he was named archbishop of Mardin.
Soon after, the first World War broke out and Armenians in Turkey began to endure great suffering. On June 3, 1915, Turkish soldiers dragged Maloyan in chains to court with 27 other Armenian Catholic figures. During the trial, Mamdooh Bek, the chief of the police, asked Maloyan to convert to Islam. The archbishop answered that he would never betray Christ and his Church and was prepared to endure all types of punishments for his fidelity. He was imprisoned and frequently beaten.
On June 10, the Turkish soldiers gathered 447 Armenians and took them to a deserted area. During the ordeal, the archbishop encouraged those gathered to remain firm in their faith and prayed with them that they would accept martyrdom with courage.
After a two-hour walk, naked and chained, the prisoners were killed by the soldiers in front of Maloyan. Bek once again asked the archbishop to convert to Islam. He refused and was shot and killed by Bek on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Before he was killed, Maloyan said: “I consider the shedding of my blood for my faith to be the sweetest desire of my heart, because I know perfectly well that if I am tortured for the love of him who died for me, I will be among those who will have joy and bliss, and I will have obtained to see my Lord and my God up there.”
He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on Oct. 7, 2001.
