HASSUN, ANTONIO. - Cardinal and Armenian Catholic Patriarch of Cilicia from 1866 to 1880, born in Constantinople on 1 June 1809, died in Rome on 28 February 1884. In 1825 he went to Rome and was able to enter the Collegio Urbano. In 1833, having been ordained a priest, he returned to his homeland.
In 1842 he was consecrated coadjutor bishop cum iure successionis of the primate of Constantinople, Msgr. Marusci; upon the latter's death in 1846, H. had himself proclaimed primate, not without the astonishment of the public, which until then had availed itself of the privilege of presenting three candidates to the Holy See. H. erected various churches and founded the Congregation of the Armenian Sisters of the Immaculate Conception.
The episcopal Synod of the patriarchate of Cilicia, presided over by Msgr. Valerga, on 14 September 1866, elected H. as successor to Gregory Peter VII, after having expressed the desire to see the two sees, patriarchal and primatial, united in the person of H., who put into practice the apostolic constitution Reversurus of 12 July 1867.
However, the reforms introduced by it against certain traditional rights, particularly in the electoral discipline of bishops, led to the exacerbation of old animosities between "Hassunists" and "Anti-Hassunists," and divided the Armenian Catholic clergy and people; the Anti-Hassunists became true schismatics, "Eastern Catholics" (3 April 1870), with bishops and clergy at their head. Churches, schools, and welfare institutions were the subject of contention.
The excommunication by the Pope, on 14 June 1872, provoked as a reaction the exile of H. by the Turkish government. H. embarked for Rome in 1872. In 1874, and through the intervention of France, the Hassunists were recognized the right to constitute themselves as a distinct community. The schism continued until the conciliatory work of the apostolic delegate Msgr. V. Vannutelli, who succeeded in winning over the leaders. The last of them, Msgr. Kupelean, was publicly reconciled before Leo XIII (18 April 1879), who appointed him ordaining bishop in Rome. In 1880 H. was invited to Rome, and shortly afterward created cardinal; he was succeeded by Msgr. Azarean, his vicar.
BOBL.: Mansi, XL, coll. 745-1132; Acta Pii IX, part 1, vol. VI, pp. 33-35, Rome 1874; R. de Martinis, Juris Pont., part 1, t. VI, Rome 1904, pp. 459-65; J. B. Asgian, Les Patriarches arméniens catholiques, Card. H. et Mgr. Azarian, in Terre Sainte, 1900-1901; Fr. Tournebize, Arménie, in DHC, coll. 340-42.
Garabed Amaduni