THE RECTORS OF ST. ANN'S CATHEDRAL

In 1971, the Rev. Fr. Krikor Gergerian took over the Armenian Catholic parish of New York, publishing a periodical by the name of "Mer Oughin" (Our Path) creating a parish council, a Ladies' guild, and a choir. Furthermore, he made sure that Sunday Masses would be celebrated on a regular basis in local Roman Catholic churches.

In 1988, Fr. Gergerian concluded his earthly life, and Msgr. Hovannes Tertzakian of the Mekhitarist Monastic Congregation arrived in New York City as the new Rector of the Cathedral, having the newly ordained Fr. Armen Garabedian as his assistant.

From 2001-2002, Rev. Fr. Nareg Dadourian of the Mekhitarist Congregation held the duty of the Rector of the Cathedral. In 2002, Fr. Dadourian was called back to his monastery in Vienna for another duty within his Congregation.

He was replaced by Rev. Fr. Antoine Noradounghian (2002-2003), a priest of the Patriarchal Order of Bzommar, who later was transferred as assistant to the pastor of St. Gregory Armenian Catholic Church in Glendale, CA, a year later.

As of September 27, 2003, Rev. Fr. Thomas Vartan Garabedian, a diocesan priest of the Exarchate, was named the Rector of St. Ann's Cathedral. He was transferred to Detroit on September 2005, to replace Rev. Antoine Saroyan, named pastor of St. Gregory the Illuminator in Glendale, California.

Currently, 200 Armenian Catholic families are members of St. Ann's, although it is estimated that there might be close to 1,000 Armenian Catholic families in the New York area. The goal of the successive Pastors has been to reach out to these families and try to serve their spiritual needs.

After moving to Brooklyn in 2004, the parish has become more lively and many events and activities have been introduced. Those include Mothers' Day, Summer Camp, cultural and spiritual lectures, Trips, and many other activities. Mostly two organizations are currently very active in parish life: the Parish Council and the Ladies' Guild.

FROM MANHATTAN TO BROOKLYN

In 2002, Edward Cardinal Egan, Archbishop of New York, asked the Armenian Catholic community to surrender St. Ann's Cathedral. After several attempts to save St. Ann's parish by both Bishop Batakian and the faithful, our community had no choice but to comply. Upon the generosity of the Diocese of Brooklyn, and in the persons of former Bishop Thomas Daily and current Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, as well as the help of Director of Catholic Near East Welfare Association Msgr. Robert Stern , the Church of St. Vincent de Paul in Williamsburg (Brooklyn, NY) was given us for the use of both Exarchate and Parish.. The church took on the name of St. Ann's Armenian Catholic Cathedral.

THE ARMENIAN CATHOLIC PARISHES

The Exarchate counts presently nine parishes:

1. St. Ann's Cathedral, Brooklyn. The rector is the Rev. Antoine Noradounghian.
2. Sacred Heart, Little Falls, New Jersey. The pastor is the Rev. George Kalousieh.
3. St. Mark's, Philadelphia, PA. The pastor is the Rev. Armenag Bedrossian.
4. Holy Cross, Boston, Massachusetts. The pastor is the Very Rev. Raphael Andonian.
5. St. Vartan, Detroit, Michigan. The pastor is the Rev. Thomas Garabedian.
6. Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, Los Angeles, California. The pastor is the Rev. Antoine Panossian.
7. St. Gregory the Illuminator, Glendale, California. The pastor is the Rev. Antoine Saroyan.
8. Notre Dame de Nareg, Montréal, Canada. The pastor is the Very Rev. Georges Zabarian.
9. St. Gregory the Illuminator, Toronto, Canada. The pastor is the Very Rev. Elias Kiredjian.

ARMENIAN CATHOLICS IN OTHER STATES

Armenian Catholic communities exist in other important cities of North America, like San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago, Washington, Atlanta, Miami, Indianapolis, etc, but have not currently organized structures nor their own pastors. The spiritual service of those faithful is provided by the priests ministering in the nearest parishes cited above.

THE PARISH COUNCILS

Each of the parishes has its own Parish Council and various Committees embracing the different fields of community life, like Financial, Educational, Benevolent Committees, Ladies' Guild, Youth Councils, Choirs, Sunday Schools, etc. as the more important auxiliary organizations of the Parishes.

THE ARMENIAN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS IN NORTH AMERICA

Five schools are fulfilling their educational mission in the jurisdictional territories of the Apostolic Exarchate:

1. Armenian Sisters' Academy of Boston, in Belmont, Massachusetts, directed by Sr. Geneviève Tavitian. It counts about 150 students for 2004-2005 year.
2. Armenian Sisters' Academy of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, directed by Sr. Luisa Kassardjian. It counts 188 students for 2004-2005 year.
3. Armenian Sisters' Academy of Los Angeles, California, directed by Sr. Lucia Hayek. It counts 298 students for 2004-2005 year.
4. Mekhitarist Fathers' School of Los Angeles, Califfornia, directed by the Rev. Fr. Okosdinos Sekulian. It counts 135 students for 2004-2005 year.
5. Notre-Dame de Nareg School of Montréal, Québec, Canada, directed by the Rev. Fr. Boghos Kazandjian. It counts 239 students for 2004-2005 year.
6. St. Gregory the Illuminator Saturday School of Toronto, directed by Mrs. S. Kheir, has 125 students, who follow a regular educational schedule including Armenian language and history, and religious education.

The total number of students being educated in these schools was 1135 the past year. The academic schedule follows the official program of the American schools and delivers the relative diplomas.

PUBLICATIONS

The Apostolic Exarchate has its annual trilingual official publication, "The Eternal Flame".

Almost all the Parishes have their parochial bulletins:

1. For New York area: a monthly parochial Bulletin.
2. For Boston: Hay Undanik (The Armenian Family), a three-monthly Bulletin.
3. For Philadelphia: a monthly parish Bulletin.
4. For Detroit: Labder (the Lamp), a bi-monthly parish Bulletin.
5. For Los Angeles area: Verelk (the Ascent), an annual parish Bulletin.
6. For Toronto: Lraper (the Messenger), a three-monthly parish Bulletin.
7. For Montréal: a monthly parish Bulletin, and Deghegadou (the Reporter), a three-monthly publication of the Armenian Catholic Union.

A trilingual richly illustrated color Calendar is published annually by the Eparchy and sent to all Armenian Catholic families in United States and Canada.

Most of the parishes have their own Website.

The official websites of the Eparchy are www.armenianeparchy.com, and www.armeniancatholicchurch.com.

The three Sisters' Academies relate their educational activities through their monthly or annual reporters.