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 Urban College. In 1833, after being ordained a priest, he returned to his homeland.
In 1842 he was consecrated as coadjutor bishop with the right of succession to the primate of Constantinople, Monsignor Marusic. Upon Marusic’s death in 1846, H. was proclaimed primate, not without public astonishment, since the faithful had hitherto enjoyed the privilege of presenting three candidates to the Holy See. He built several churches and founded the Congregation of the Armenian Sisters of the Immaculate Conception.
The episcopal synod of the patriarchate of Cilicia, presided over by Monsignor Valerga, elected H. as successor to Gregory Peter VII on 14 September 1866, after expressing the desire to unite the two sees, patriarchal and primatial, in the person of H. He implemented the apostolic constitution *Reversurus* of 12 July 1867.
Nevertheless, the reforms introduced by it against certain traditional rights, especially in the electoral discipline of bishops, stirred up old animosities between the “Hassunists” and the “Anti-Hassunists,” dividing the Armenian Catholic clergy and people. The Anti-Hassunists became outright schismatics as “Eastern Catholics” (3 April 1870), led by bishops and clergy. Churches, schools, and charitable institutions became objects of contention.
The Pope’s excommunication on 14 June 1872 provoked the Turkish government to exile H. He sailed for Rome in 1872. In 1874, and following French intervention, the Hassunists were granted the right to constitute themselves as a distinct community. The schism persisted until the conciliatory efforts of the special delegate Monsignor V. VANNUTELLI, VINCENZO, who succeeded in winning over the leaders. The last of these, Monsignor Kupelean, publicly reconciled himself before Leo XIII on 18 April 1879, who then appointed him ordaining bishop in Rome. In 1880 H. was invited to Rome and shortly thereafter created a cardinal; he was succeeded by Monsignor Azarean, his vicar.