Gregory Agagianian

September 18, 1895 (age 75)

Akhaltsikhe, Transcaucasia, Georgia

Ordained a priest on Dec. 23, 1917, in Rome, he served as pastor in Tbilisi (Tiflis) from 1919 to 1921. In the latter year he became vice-rector of the Pontifical Armenian College in Rome, serving until 1932, when he was made rector. In 1935 he was named titular bishop of Comana in Armenia and in 1937 he became Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians, assuming the name of Gregory Peter XV Agagianian. He was the first of the thirty-two cardinals created in the consistory of Feb. 18, 1946. On June 18, 1958, he was named Pro-Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, a newly created post in which he became acting head of Roman Catholic missions throughout the world. To fill this position he left the patriarchate in Beirut, Lebanon, and established himself in Rome. Two days after his appointment Pius XII named him a member of the Congregation of the Holy Office, and he was retained in these posts by John XXIII, who in 1958 also appointed him pontifical legate to the Far East. From 1960 to 1970 he headed the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. Cardinal Agagianian died at Rome on May 16, 1971.