BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN
Khrimian Hyrig is a highly revered clergyman. But, he is also a great leader who has given wonderful political advice to the Armenian nation.
His Holiness was born in Van, Western Armenia, in 1820 and became the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1869. Due to his nationalistic views, he was forced to resign by the Ottoman government in 1873. He was then installed as Catholicos of All Armenians in Etchmiadzin in 1893 and died in 1907.
Khrimian Hyrig is well-known for his participation in the Berlin Congress in 1878, hoping to receive from the great powers a decision to force the Ottoman Empire to establish substantial reforms in the Armenian provinces. He did not accomplish his objective because Armenians were powerless. He likened the failed Armenian efforts in the Berlin Congress to his attempt to eat from a bowl with a “paper ladle,” while other nations had an “iron ladle.”