Blessed Ignatius Maloyan, Archbishop of Mardin of the Armenian Catholics, is about to be proclaimed a Saint—an event marking a significant moment for the Armenian community and for the Catholic Church as a whole. The canonization Mass will take place in the Vatican on 19 October 2025.
By Joseph A. Kéchichian *
For the French philosopher Blaise Pascal, “Evil is easy, and has infinite forms, while good is largely unique”, that, succinctly stated, summarises man’s inhumanity to man. Beyond natural catastrophes, and at a time when we all watch man-made calamities, it behoves us to recall those who stood up to criminals, determined to defeat wickedness and, despite unspeakable tragedies, embodied virtuousness.
Ignatius Maloyan was a bishop who perished in the Metz Yeghern – the Great Evil – in which grave persecutions were perpetrated against Armenian Christians at the beginning of the 20th century. He endured evil, accepted martyrdom, and triumphed over malevolence. Pope John Paul II beatified Maloyan as a martyr in 2001, while Pope Francis approved his canonization earlier this year, which will now be celebrated in a solemn Mass presided over by Pope Leo XIV on 19 October 2025 at the Vatican. Maloyan’s name will thus be inscribed into the official list of saints, the “canon,” both to recognise his heroic and virtuous life, as well as to inspire believers that evil can and must be defeated.
Thanksgiving Mass for the canonization of Ignatius Maloyan
Remarkably, Maloyan earned his sainthood as he provided assistance to his flock at the height of the Metz Yeghern, which aimed to eradicate an entire nation. His parish church was ransacked and the archives of his bishopric confiscated by Ottoman authorities—allegedly looking for weapons. In the event, no weapons were found because there were none, and all of Maloyan’s entreaties failed to persuade determined vassals who embarked on ethnic cleansing under false pretences. How this son of Mardin [today in Turkey] confronted evil was a noteworthy story, and how he assumed his fate, an even greater chronicle.
Maloyan’s story
Maloyan was born on 15 April 1869 as Shukrallah Melkon and enrolled at the Armenian Catholic Monastery at Bzommar, Lebanon, in 1883. He was 14. The young postulant perceived the monastery as the “hope of the nation,” its garden, the “hope of Armenia,” and those who “touched” it, lucky enough to witness pure joy. Bzommar, which became the seat of the Armenian Catholic See in 1749, tutored the young man in theology and philosophy. It further instilled in him a love for virtue. He learned how to pray, understand scriptures, communicate with fellow believers [in addition to his native Armenian, Maloyan spoke five languages—Arabic, English, French, Italian and, of course, Turkish], as well as preach the gospel. He took the name Ignatius as an Armenian Catholic priest in 1896, served in both Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt, as well as Constantinople (which became Istanbul in 1930), before he returned to his native city. The cleric was consecrated Bishop of Mardin in October 1911.
Mardin was a relatively cosmopolitan town in Anatolia, the seat of the Syrian Catholic Church and housed a Jacobite [Syrian Orthodox] Patriarchate, along with the Chaldean and Armenian Catholic bishoprics. An Ottoman administrative Mutassarifiyyah [district], it also housed three prominent mosques, given that nearly half of the population was Muslim. All of these communities co-existed in fundamental harmony that, in hindsight, boggles the mind. What happened to its inhabitants’ open-mindedness at the height of the massacres that followed was inexplicable. Still, like the vast majority of Ottoman subjects, Armenians, Syriacs, and Greeks were loyal to the Ottoman Porte. And Maloyan was no exception. Ironically, he even received a firman [Order] that decorated him on 20 April 1915, just four days before the raid that aimed to decapitate the Armenian nation by arresting and executing prominent intellectuals. Little did Maloyan know that he, along with his mother, brother and at least one cousin, would fall to Ottoman wrath, thereby transforming the family into a household of martyrs.
A handwritten letter by the Blessed Maloyan
Tortured, deported, martyred
Even if few understood what was about to befall the nation, and as early as May 1915, the bishop sensed that an imminent catastrophe was about to come down on Mardin, which was why he shared his spiritual testament with his priests. In the whirlwind of rumours that alienated Ottomans from each other and that allowed the members of the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP)—a revolutionary political party that actively sought to cleanse the empire of its minorities—Maloyan was arrested on 3 June 1915. He was harshly interrogated, tortured and invited to convert to Islam, which he refused to do. Witnesses who survived his co-detention testified that the bishop was beaten and his toenails were torn out, though he was allowed to bid his mother goodbye. Astonishingly, he asked her to get him a pair of shoes 2 sizes larger than what he usually wore, ostensibly to endure the anticipated march that all deportees were subjected to, but in reality, to hide his inflamed soles, the result of extensive bastinadoes.
On 11 June 1915, along with 417 Armenians and Syriacs, including 16 priests and several nuns, Maloyan was attached to a convoy of expelled Ottoman citizens [it is worth underlining] and deported towards Diyarbakir. He was executed on that date by an Ottoman officer whose name is well-known but unworthy of recollection. He was 46 years old.
The Great Evil
(…) At least two million people perished between 1894 and 1923, but the Armenian, Syriac and Greek nations survived, flourished, and thrived—albeit in more tolerant environments. Thousands of survivors found safe havens in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, and Egypt. Hundreds were sheltered in Arabia, including among prominent Al Saud family members, whose welcome mats were generously spread.
Procession marking the 110th anniversary of the martyrdom of soon to be Saint Ignatius Maloyan
Regrettably, the Great Evil took place because the major powers of the time—Germany, France, Russia, and others—chose to wear the ill-fitting cloak of “tolerance.” Then as now, in our troubled world, self-interested nation-states rarely placed moral imperatives, human rights, or the defence of life and liberty above fleeting norms that brought disgrace rather than honour to humanity.
Ignatius Maloyan understood the “game of nations” but refused to play along or to satisfy the rulers of his day. Instead, he embraced martyrdom to preserve his faith, his humanity, and his dignity. Above all, he refused to submit, knowing that one submits only to the Creator, never to those who wield the power of death. Like martyrs throughout the ages, Maloyan faced death with courage and chose eternity over compromise.
A true believer, he resisted those who feared him; the perpetrators of ethnic cleansing could not break the disciple’s faith. The nation endured while its enemies were defeated. Quietly, evil collapsed, while Maloyan’s virtue stood firm against brutal force, rendering that force powerless. By upholding his virtue and revealing the emptiness of evil, Ignatius Maloyan earned sainthood, joining the enduring communion of witnesses.
* Dr Kéchichian is a Senior Fellow at the King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
