GREGORY VI, APIRAT. – The last Catholicus of the Armenian Pahlawouni family (1194–1203). Alongside St Nerses Lambronatzi, bishop, and Leo II, first king of Armenian Cilicia, he became the most steadfast champion of Union.
After the death of Emperor Manuel Comnenus, negotiations with the Greeks were resumed under Isaac II Angelus (1185–1195) and then under Alexius III Angelus (1195–1203),
at the Armenian Council of Tarsus (1106), of which St Nerses Lambronatzi was the guiding spirit. When these negotiations failed owing to the Greeks’ lack of understanding, Gregory and St Nerses, endowed with rare foresight, forged ties with Rome. These were sealed by the coronation of Leo I as king by Innocent III at Tarsus on 6 January 1198, performed by Conrad of Wittelsbach; and by the subsequent Armenian embassy to Rome between the years 1199 and 1203. Gregory received the pallium, and the Armenian army was granted the crusaders’ indulgences.