Krikor Bedros VI. Jeranian

Krikor Bedros VI. Jeranian OAM , also Gregory Petrus VI. Jeranian, (*?; † September 22, 1840 ) was the sixth Armenian Catholic Patriarch of Cilicia . In the Armenian Catholic Church he is revered as a "miracle patriarch".

Life

Krikor Jeranian was a religious priest of the Armenian Antonians and a trained theologian and lawyer . In addition to his native Armenian, he also spoke Arabic , Turkish , Latin and Italian . As a convincing pastor he was known for his sermons . Before his appointment as patriarch, Jeranian was bishop of the lost Marasc eparchy . He was elected Patriarch of Cilicia on June 23, 1812. Pope Pius VII (1800-1823) confirmed him on April 8, 1815 in his office.

Political upheavals

In the years 1828 to 1840, the end of the Armenian Catholic Church threatened several times. The Peace of Adrianople (September 14, 1829) ended the Russo-Turkish war that broke out in 1828 . Russia received almost the entire mouth of the Danube and large parts of Armenia . French troops conquered Algeria in 1830 and in 1831 the Ottoman governor in Egypt , Muhammad Ali Pascha , resigned his allegiance to the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II and occupied Syria . Armenian Catholic priests and believers were persecuted and had to flee. Many Armenian Catholic clergy hid in monasteries near Bzommar during these troubled years . The seminary in Bzommar had to temporarily stop teaching and the seminarians had to be fired. The new rulers tried to unite the Armenian Catholic Church with the Armenian Orthodox Church . Patriarch Bedros VI. However, in 1830 Mahmud II guaranteed the independence of the Armenian Catholic Church and began to rebuild the eparchies from 1830 to 1833.

The conflict that broke out again in 1839 between the Ottoman Empire and Muhammad Ali Pascha over possession of Syria expanded into the Orient crisis , in which the European powers were also involved. To protect the Armenian Catholic Christians, Bedros V offered his life as a pledge.

Miracle worker

Already during his lifetime he had a reputation as a miracle worker . Already shortly after his death the veneration of saints and the veneration as a miracle healer began . When his bones were raised , they were found intact. Bedros VI. is still considered a popular saint in the Armenian Catholic Church today .

Web links

• Entry on Krikor Bedros VI. Jeranian on catholic-hierarchy.org
• Biographies of Past Catholicos Patriarch in the Armenian Catholic Church History (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
Krikor Bedros V. Kupelian	Patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church 1812 - 1840	Hagop Bedros VII Holassian