Armenian Catholic Archbishop to be canonized - Pope`s decision

ArmInfo. By the decision of Pope Francis, Ignatios Maloyan, Archbishop of the Armenian Catholic Church, who was martyred during the Armenian Genocide, will be  canonized. This was reported by the Vatican News website.

Blessed Ignatios Maloyan was born on April 19, 1869, in  Mardin, in  present-day Turkey.  He entere the convent of Bzommar in Lebanon at   14 and was ordained in 1896 and given the name Ignatios. He became  famous in Alexandria for his sermons in Arabic and Turkish. Known for  his pastoral care and scholarship, he was  appointed Patriarchal  Vicar of Cairo, but returned to Alexandria the following year due to  vision problems. In 1911, he was appointed Patriarchal Vicar of  Mardin.

During the Armenian Genocide, he was arrested along with dozens of  Christians and brought before a tribunal in 1915. When Ignatios  Maloyan was told  his life could be spared in exchange for conversion   to Islam, he declared, "We have never been unfaithful to the state...  but if you ask us to be unfaithful to our religion, this-never,  never, never!." He was tortured and executed shortly afterward. In  2001, he was beatified by Pope John Paul II.