Cardinal Gregory-Peter XV Agagianian

Gregory-Peter XV Agagianian was one of the most prominent figures of the Armenian Catholic Church and was twice considered a candidate for pope. He was born in Akhaltsikhe, in the Armenian milieu of Javakhk, into a family that had escaped violence in the Ottoman Empire. The local priest noticed his exceptional abilities, and the young Agagianian was sent to Rome to study.

In 1937 he was elected Patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church, taking the name Gregory-Peter, and in 1946 Pope Pius XII made him a cardinal. He was only the second Armenian in the Church’s history to receive this honour. At the papal conclaves of 1958 and 1963 he was considered a likely candidate.

In the photograph he sits at a desk in red cardinal’s robes and skullcap, holding a pen, with a crucifix behind him.