Armenian Catholic, Evangelical, and Orthodox Churches in Canada

Armenian Catholic Church
Presently, around 1.5 million Armenians live in North America, of which 35,000 belong to the Armenian Catholic Church. In the 19th century Catholic Armenians from Western Armenia, mainly from the towns and cities of Karin (Erzurum), Constantinople, Mardin etc., came to the United States seeking employment. At the end of the same century, many survivors of the Hamidian Massacres had concentrated in several U.S. cities, chiefly in New York. Catholic Armenian communities were also founded in New Jersey, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, and other cities of California.

Many Armenians came to the United States and Canada from the Middle Eastern countries of Lebanon and Syria in the 1970s and in later years. Also many Armenians immigrated from Argentina, because of the economic crisis. At the same time, many Catholic Armenians inside the United States moved to San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Miami and Indianapolis.

In 2005, by Pope Benedict XVI's decision, the Catholic Exarchate of the USA and Canada was advanced to the status of a diocese. It serviced 35,000 Catholic Armenians in the United States and some 10,000 in Canada. According to a Monday, May 23, 2011 news release by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Pope Benedict XVI, named Archpriest Mikaël Antoine Mouradian, superior of the Convent of Notre Dame in Bzommar, Lebanon, as the new bishop of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg in New York for Armenian Catholics. Source: Wikipedia In 2012, the name was changed to the Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg in the United States of America and Canada and headquarters are now located in Glendale, California. The eparchy has also been known as Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg in Glendale. Source: Wikipedia

Armenian Catholic Eparchy Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral 1510 East Mountain Street Glendale, CA 91207 Phone: 1 818 243 8400 Fax: 1 818 243 0095 Email: secretary@ourladyofnareg.org
 * Website
 * Our Lady of Nareg Parish List

Armenian Evangelical Church
The Armenian Evangelical Union of North America resulted from the merger of the Armenian Evangelical Union of Eastern States and Canada (founded in 1901) and the Armenian Evangelical Union of California (founded in 1908). It traces its history to the reform movement within the Armenian Apostolic Church resulting in the founding, on July 1, 1846, of the first Armenian Evangelical Church by 37 men and 3 women in Pera (near Constantinople), Turkey.

Armenian Evangelical Union of North America 411 E. Acacia St., Ste 200 Glendale CA  91205

Phone:818-500-8839 E-mail: aeuna@aeuna.org
 * Website

Addresses:
 * Armenian Evangelical Union of North America Church Directory

Armenian Apostolic Church
In 1958 the Armenian Prelacy of America was established. There were only few churches, and the Prelacy included all of the United States of America and Canada. As the number of Churches grew over the years, the Armenian Prelacy of America was split into two jurisdictions, Eastern and Western. As years continued to go by, more churches were built, and in 2002 the Armenian Prelacy of Eastern America was split into two yet again, this time establishing the Armenian Prelacy of Canada.

Armenian Prelacy of Canada 3401 Oliver Asselin Montreal, Quebec H4J 1L5 Canada Email: prelacy@armenianprelacy.ca Phone: 514-856-1200 Fax: 514-856-1805
 * Prelacy Churches

Information in the Records
The quality and completeness of records is not uniform and even the information contained will vary from church to church and even during different time periods for the same church depending on the diligence of the priest. In a best case scenario, you could find: Baptism records:
 * the name of child
 * date and place of birth
 * date of baptism
 * the name of parents and their birthplace (might say only Armenia)
 * maiden name of the mother
 * the name of the godfather
 * name of officiating priest

Marriage records:
 * the name of the groom, his age, birthplace, occupation, marital status (single or widowed), and name of his parents
 * the same information for the bride
 * date of marriage
 * godfather
 * officiating priest
 * Sometimes the current address of the bride and groom are also included.

Funeral records: (most diverse)
 * the person's name, age, birthplace, date of death, date of funeral, cause of death, address, officiating priest and cemetery. In the best case scenario, sometimes the names of the parents are given and sometimes the name of the next of kin is given.

Church census: Beyond the sacraments, occasionally you will find very valuable census records from the churches. Source: Courtesy of George Aghjayan, Facebook message, 30 May 2020.

Correspond with or visit the actual churches.
Almost all records are still held in the local churches. Contact the current minister to find out what records are still available. See address lists under each denomination above.
 * See the Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for help with composing letters.
 * Make an appointment to look at the records. Or ask the minister of the church to make a copy of the record for you.
 * Frequently, parish staff no longer read Armenian. Generally, the staff are not set up for genealogical services. A personal visit to study the records would be more successful, or hiring a researcher.
 * To find church staff available, you might have to visit on Sunday.
 * Ask for small searches at a time, such as one birth record or a specific marriage. Never ask for "everything on a family or surname".
 * A donation ($25-$40) for their time and effort to help you would be appropriate.
 * If the church has a website, you may be able to e-mail a message.