Incorrupt remains of Armenian Catholic cardinal transferred to Lebanon

It has been five decades since Grigor Aghatchanian, aka Gregory Peter XV Agagianian, cardinal and head of the Armenian Catholic Church, died and was buried in Rome. In October 2022, when his tomb was opened, his body was reportedly found in an exceptional state of preservation. Today, he has just been repatriated to Beirut to rest in peace.

A great popular festival

This Thursday, September 12, 2024, Gregory Peter XV returned to Lebanon, the land of his heart. Carried in procession through the streets of Beirut, the glass shrine, where the remains dressed in cardinal red rest, attracted an imposing crowd of believers. From Martyrs’ Square to the Armenian Catholic Cathedral of Saint Elias and Saint Gregory the Illuminator, the popular fervor was palpable.

This repatriation was organized at the request of the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate of Cilicia, as part of the diocesan phase of beatification that began two years ago. Patriarch Raphael Bedros XXI Minassian had then expressed the wish to reopen the tomb of this servant of God at the Armenian Church of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino (Rome), in 2022.

Upon arrival, the cardinal’s body was greeted by outgoing Prime Minister Nagib Mikati and then carried by personalities of all faiths present represented in the country’s Constitution, in a cloud of incense and confetti. A symbol and a tribute to Gregory Peter XV who “loved Lebanon as a son loves his family and the Lebanese as a father loves his children “, Mikati said. Late in the evening, the cardinal, a Georgian by birth, was buried in a new vault specially built for the occasion.”Here he is today on his land and among his people, more than half a century since his death, explained the Prime Minister, refusing to let death separate him from his country, in order to rest there in peace. “

A “humble and loving” patriarch

Born in Georgia, then under the Russian Empire, the religious dignitary is described as having been a “humble patriarch filled with love for humanity, especially for the needy, the poor, the sick and the helpless.shelter”. Known for having been the initiator “schools, associations and orphanages“In Lebanon, the cardinal was appreciated by all, especially at the Vatican. Apostolic Nuncio to Lebanon, then Armenian Patriarch of Cilicia – he will sit in Lebanon – he was linked to the country of the Cedars throughout his ecclesiastical life. He ensured that the local Armenian diaspora regained prestige after the genocide of 1915. In 1960, he was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Propaganda Fide, now the Dicastery for Evangelization, and became a key figure in Rome, notably as moderator of the Second Vatican Council. Devoted to Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Patriarch was the first “papabile” from the East, that is to say a serious candidate for the papacy. According to the Catholic News Agency, several miracles attributed to his intercession have already been recorded. In a Lebanon plagued by numerous crises, the return of Gregory Peter XV is seen by many as a symbol of unity, capable of bringing together a divided population around a figure loved by all.