The Diocese
Posted: 09/25/2026
In response to the decision of the California Diocesan Assembly of September 6, 1927, His Holiness Catholicos Kevork V Sureniants of All Armenians, by a pontifical encyclical dated November 28, 1927, appointed Bishop Karekin Khachadourian as Primate of the newly-established Diocese of California. At the time, Bishop Khachadourian was serving as Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Trebizond.
November 28, 1927, marks the official founding of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America.
Photograph: The first page of the handwritten pontifical encyclical of Catholicos Kevork V Sureniants.
