Eastern Diocese
The Armenian Church in America
The first Armenian Church was built in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1891. The first Armenian clergyman had arrived earlier, in response to a petition by 300 Armenian residents of the city. By 1897, as the number of Armenian immigrants grew, there were six clergymen serving the Armenian Church in America. With the exception of Worcester, services were held in non-Armenian sanctuaries, notably Episcopalian churches. The Armenian Church of America was established officially by Catholicos Mkrtich Khrimian in 1898.
There are about one million Armenians in the United States and Canada today. The Church has two dioceses in the U.S: the Eastern Diocese, and the Western Diocese. There are 63 organized and mission parishes in the Eastern Diocese. A third diocese governs all of Canada.
The head of the Eastern Diocese is the Primate who is elected by clerical and lay representatives of the parishes at the Diocesan Assembly, which meets annually. The Primate is president of the Diocesan Council, consisting of lay and clerical members, which governs the affairs of the Diocese.
Major centers of Armenian population in the United States include the greater New York area; Boston and its environs; Worcester, MA; Detroit, MI; Philadelphia, PA; Los Angeles, CA; and Fresno, CA. Substantial and expanding communities exist in Wisconsin, Texas, and Florida.
The Cathedral and Primate
St. Vartan Cathedral and Diocesan Headquarters
St. Vartan Cathedral and Diocesan Headquarters
St. Vartan Cathedral and Diocesan Headquarters
Named in honor of St. Vartan, the 5th-century martyr who fought to preserve Armenian Christianity, St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral was consecrated on April 28, 1968, by His Holiness Vasken I, the late Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians. Rising 120 feet above 2nd Avenue and 34th Street in Manhattan, the cathedral is a symbol of the unwavering Armenian spirit and a testament to the achievements of a bold generation determined to preserve the Armenian faith and heritage in the New World.
His Grace Bishop Daniel Findikyan, Primate
St. Vartan Cathedral and Diocesan Headquarters
St. Vartan Cathedral and Diocesan Headquarters
A native of Fort Worth, TX, Bishop Daniel Findikyan is a graduate of St. Nersess Armenian Seminary in New Rochelle, NY.
In 1997, he received a doctorate degree in liturgy from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome.
Ordained a celibate priest by Archbishop Khajag Barsamian in 1997, Bishop. Daniel served as dean of St. Nersess Armenian Seminary until 2012. He has also served as a visiting pastor of the St. Sarkis Church of Charlotte, NC.
In November 2012, he was appointed the director of the Eastern Diocese’s Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center. He was also a visiting professor of liturgy at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN, and at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome.
In May 2018, he was elected as the Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern). In May 2019 he was ordained a bishop of the Armenian Church in Holy Etchmiadzin by H.H. Karekin II.
Diocesan Mission Statement
St. Vartan Cathedral and Diocesan Headquarters
Diocesan Mission Statement
The mission of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church is to preach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and to proclaim its message of salvation. This mission is realized through worship, education, witness, service, and the common life in Christ as expressed in the distinctive faith-experience of the Armenian people. All members of the Armenian Church—both clergy and lay—are called to participate fully in its mission.