22(i ANDREW J. SHIPMAN MEMORIAL 



Britain and Bridgeport, in Connecticut ; Jersey City, West Ho- 

 boken and Newark, in New Jersey ; and Philadelphia and Chi- 

 cago. The number of Catholic Armenians in the United States 

 is very small, being estimated at about 2,000 to 2,500 all told. 

 So many of them reside among the other Armenians and fre- 

 quent their churches, that there may be more who do not pro- 

 fess themselves Catholics, and purely Armenian chapels would 

 doubtless bring to light many whom the mission priests on their 

 rounds do not reach. 



Gregorian Armenians. — Inasmuch as Armenia was con- 

 verted to the faith of St. Gregory the Illuminator, the Arme- 

 nians who are not in union with the Holy See pride themselves 

 upon the fact that they more truly hold the faith preached by 

 St. Gregory and they are accordingly called Gregorians, since 

 the word "Orthodox" would be likely to confuse them with the 

 Greeks. By reason of the many schools founded in Armenia 

 and in Constantinople by American Protestant missionaries, 

 their attention was turned to America, and, when the massa- 

 cres of 1895-96 took place, large numbers came to the United 

 States. Many of them belonged to the Protestant Armenian 

 Church, and identified themselves with the Congregationalists 

 or Presbyterians ; but the greater number of them belonged to 

 the national Gregorian Church. In 1889 Rev. Hovsep Sara- 

 jian, a priest from Constantinople, was sent to the Armenians 

 in Massachusetts, and a church which was built in Worcester 

 in 1891 is still the headquarters of the Armenian Church in 

 the United States. The emigration increasing greatly after 

 the massacres, Father Sarajian was reinforced by several other 

 Armenian priests; in 1898 he was made bishop, and in 1903 

 was invested with archiepiscopal authority, having Canada and 

 the United States under his jurisdiction. Seven great pasto- 

 rates were organized to serve as the nuclei of future dioceses : 

 at Worcester, Boston and Lawrence (Massachusetts), New 

 York, Providence (Rhode Island), Fresno (CaHfornia) and 

 Chicago (Illinois). To these was added West Hoboken in 

 1906. There are numerous congregations and mission stations 

 in various cities. Churches have been built in Worcester, 

 Fresno and West Hoboken ; in Boston and Providence halls 

 are rented, and in other places arrangements are often made 

 with Episcopal churches where their services are held. The 

 Gregorian Armenian clergy comprises the archbishop, seven 



