Archbishop Ignace Maloyan (1869-1915), whose canonization was approved by Pope Francis. (Credit: NNA)
The Armenian Catholic patriarch announced Friday the date of the canonization of Ignace Maloyan (1869-1915), is scheduled for Oct. 19. This canonization was approved by Pope Francis following an ordinary session of cardinals and bishops.
Mgr Ignace Shoukrallah Maloyan, Armenian Catholic Archbishop of Mardin (Turkey), is considered one of the most significant figures of holiness in the eyes of the Eastern Armenian Church. The prelate was killed by Ottoman forces in Istanbul on June 11, 1915, during the Armenian Genocide, along with other religious figures, such as the Syro-Catholic bishop Flavien Michel Melki, also declared blessed, and killed together with the Chaldean bishop Jacques Abraham on Aug. 28, 1915, as well as Capuchin brothers Léonard Melki and Thomas Saleh, killed in 1915 and 1917, also declared blessed by the Vatican.
Maloyan spent the early years of his priesthood in Lebanon, where he was sent to the Bzoummar convent in Kesrwan at the age of 14. He stayed in this convent for nearly 15 years, where he was a member of the Institute of Bzoummar, before being appointed in 1897 as the priest of the parish of Alexandria and Cairo.
Pope Leo XIV presided over his first consistory with the cardinals present in Rome on Friday at the Vatican. According to Vatican News, eight individuals "will receive final approval for their canonization." Among these future saints, the Italians Pier Giorgio Frassati, "a young layman from Turin in the early 20th century," and Carlo Acutis, known as the cyber-apostle, will be canonized on Sept. 7, according to a message on the Vatican's X account. "Seven other blessed individuals will be proclaimed saints on Oct. 19," it added.
The list reported by Vatican News included the names of Sister Maria Troncatti, former satanist Bartolo Longo, Italian sister Vincenza Maria Poloni, the first Venezuelan saint María del Monte Carmelo Rendiles Martínez, Venezuelan professor José Gregorio Hernández Cisneros, and the first blessed of Papua New Guinea, Peter To Rot.
The consistory presided over by Leo XIV was called by Pope Francis during his hospitalization on Feb. 25. The last consistory was on Dec. 7, 2024, during which Francis elevated 21 churchmen to the rank of cardinal.