Archbishop Ignatius Maloyan

In the spring of 1915, during the Armenian Genocide, arrests of Christians began in Mardin. The authorities accused clergy and laymen of treason against the state and of collaborating with the enemy. Among them was Archbishop Ignatius Maloyan.

On the night of 10 June 1915, Maloyan and about 400 Christians were taken to the caves of Sheikhan. There the sentence was read out to them, and they were offered their lives if they converted to Islam. The archbishop replied: “I prefer to die as a Christian rather than live as a Muslim.” Before the execution he allowed the priests to hear the people’s confessions. Then all were killed, and Maloyan was shot personally by Mamduh Bey. In 2001 Pope John Paul II proclaimed him a martyr and beatified him.

The photograph shows a bearded clergyman wearing a hood, with two star-shaped decorations and a cross on a chain on his chest.