St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Cathedral of Montreal
The story of St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Cathedral is, in many ways, the story of Montreal’s Armenian community itself.
It began not with a cathedral, but with a handful of Armenian newcomers who arrived in Montreal more than a century ago carrying their faith, their traditions and the hope of building a new life in Canada.
The Beginnings of an Armenian Community in Montreal
In 1908, Montreal’s Armenian population consisted of only six young men. In the years that followed, other Armenians arrived from historic Armenian lands then under Ottoman rule.
After the Armenian Genocide, relatives and survivors joined them, and the beginnings of a permanent Armenian community began to take shape. From those first few individuals, a community of approximately 50 Armenians gradually emerged in Montreal.
During the early years, there was no Armenian church building of their own. Nevertheless, faith remained central to community life.
By the early 1940s, Armenian Divine Liturgies were being celebrated periodically in an oratory made available through St. John’s Anglican Church. Rev. Fr. Zkon Tcharkhougian travelled from the United States to minister to Montreal’s growing Armenian population.
In 1948, during a visit to Montreal, His Eminence Archbishop Diran Nersoyan helped establish an administrative body for the Armenian community. This was an important step toward creating an organized and permanent Armenian ecclesiastical presence in the city.
A Community Transformed by Immigration
The Armenian population of Montreal changed significantly during the decades that followed.
In 1952, following an easing of Canadian immigration restrictions, approximately 250 Armenians arrived from Greece, many of whom settled in Montreal.
Further waves of Armenian immigration followed.
After the upheavals in Istanbul in 1955–1956, additional Armenian families came to Canada. Political instability and conflict in Egypt during the late 1950s brought still more Armenians to Montreal.
Later, the Lebanese Civil War, which began in 1975, resulted in another major movement of Armenians to Canada.
During subsequent decades, families also arrived from Iran, Ethiopia and other parts of the Middle East. What had begun with a handful of Armenians at the beginning of the century eventually grew into a Montreal Armenian community numbering in the tens of thousands.
Each new wave brought different experiences and traditions, but the Church remained one of the institutions capable of bringing these Armenians together.
Building an Armenian Church Community
By the 1950s, Sunday Divine Liturgies were being celebrated regularly and church committees were becoming increasingly active.
In 1957, the Armenian Holy Apostolic Church of Montreal received its governmental registration.
As the Armenian population continued to grow, the need for a permanent spiritual home became increasingly clear.
In 1964, under the leadership of Parish Council Chairman Dr. Arto Demirdjian, a construction committee was formed.
During a visit to Montreal in 1965, His Eminence Archbishop Sion Manoukian helped initiate a fundraising effort that raised approximately $37,000 toward the future church.
The community initially considered constructing its own building. In 1967, the Annual General Meeting approved the purchase of property on Henri-Bourassa Boulevard for that purpose.
The following year, during the visit of His Holiness Vazken I, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, the property received his blessing.
Architectural and Ladies Auxiliary committees were subsequently formed as the community continued planning for a permanent church.
But events soon presented another opportunity.
Finding a Permanent Home
In 1969, during celebrations marking the centenary of the great Armenian composer and priest Komitas Vardapet, the congregation was given use of the Fairmount St. Gilles United Church.
At the same time, the Armenian community learned that the church building was available for purchase.
Rather than constructing a new church from the ground up, the community now had the possibility of acquiring an established and substantial building in the heart of Montreal.
At the Annual General Meeting of February 18, 1969, the parish unanimously decided to purchase the property for $250,000.
On Easter Sunday, March 29, 1969, His Grace Bishop Vatche Hovsepian celebrated the first Armenian Divine Liturgy there.
Fundraising began immediately.
One of the most significant contributions came from noted Armenian benefactor and AGBU leader Alex Manoogian, whose contribution of $100,000 helped make the acquisition possible.
The purchase documents were formally signed on June 20, 1969.
A dream that had begun with a handful of Armenian immigrants more than 60 years earlier had finally become a permanent home.
Becoming St. Gregory the Illuminator
The building itself had been constructed in 1929 and could accommodate approximately 750 worshippers.
The large property included the principal sanctuary as well as community spaces that would become important centres of Armenian life.
The main hall became known as the Marie Manoogian Hall, honouring the Manoogian family’s extraordinary contribution.
A smaller hall on the second floor, later renovated with the support of the Karibyan family, became known as Karibyan Hall.
The building soon became much more than a place for Sunday worship.
In September 1970, the first Armenian daily school associated with the community, the AGBU Armen-Quebec Alex Manoogian School of Montreal, began operating there.
The sanctuary itself was transformed for Armenian Apostolic worship.
The Armenian altar was made possible through the generosity of Krikor Mazmanian of Boston, with its architectural design prepared by Zaven Baykar, also of Boston.
On December 6, 1970, the church was formally consecrated and named St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Church.
The consecration was conducted by His Eminence Archbishop Shenork Kaloustian, Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, with the participation of His Eminence Archbishop Torkom Manoukian and His Grace Bishop Vatche Hovsepian.
The former Protestant church had now become an Armenian Apostolic spiritual home.
A Flourishing Period
Owning such a large property created a considerable financial responsibility for a still-growing immigrant community.
Yet parishioners responded with remarkable commitment.
Through the combined efforts of parish councils, committees, volunteers and donors, the mortgage was completely paid in less than ten years.
The Cathedral entered one of the most active periods of its history.
Numerous religious, cultural, educational and community organizations flourished within its walls, including the Komitas Choir, Ladies Auxiliary, Sunday School, Saturday Armenian School, ACYOC, Mamigonian Cultural Committee, Consecrated Bread Committee and the Pourastan publication.
For many Armenian families, St. Gregory became a place where virtually every part of community life could take place.
Children learned Armenian.
Choirs sang the hymns of the Armenian Church.
Families gathered for baptisms, weddings and funerals.
New immigrants met families who had arrived before them.
Cultural organizations preserved Armenian language, music and traditions.
For generations of Armenians in Montreal, the Cathedral became both a spiritual home and a community centre.
The Birth of the Canadian Diocese
St. Gregory's role grew beyond the parish itself.
As Armenian communities developed across Canada, the need for an independent Canadian Diocese became increasingly apparent.
In 1980, with the blessing of His Holiness Vazken I, the establishment of a separate Diocese of the Armenian Church of Canada was declared.
On October 6, 1984, Very Rev. Vazken Keshishian was elected the first Primate of the new Canadian Diocese.
The second floor of St. Gregory became the official residence of the Primate, further establishing Montreal and the Cathedral as an important centre of Armenian Apostolic life in Canada.
In 1987, His Holiness Vazken I visited Canada and blessed the newly established Diocese.
Following the passing of Archbishop Vazken Keshishian, Archbishop Hovnan Derderian became Primate in 1990 and served until 2003.
He was followed by Bishop Bagrat Galstanian, who served as Primate from 2003 until 2014.
Today, the Canadian Diocese is led by His Grace Bishop Abgar Hovakimyan, who also provides episcopal leadership to the St. Gregory community.
Generations of Clergy and Parishioners
Over the decades, many priests have served the Montreal Armenian community.
Among them were Rev. Fr. Zkon Tcharkhougian, Rev. Fr. Khoren Mamigonian, Very Rev. Fr. Isahag Ghazarian, Very Rev. Fr. Vazken Tatoyan, Rev. Fr. Ghevont Papazian, Rev. Fr. Mampre Biberian, Rev. Fr. Housig Nichanian, Rev. Fr. Guregh Yetenegian, Rev. Fr. Mamigon Oskanian, Rev. Fr. Sahag Balian, Very Rev. Fr. Zaven Arzoumanian, Rev. Fr. Gomidas Sherbetdjian, Very Rev. Fr. Shenork Kasbarian, Very Rev. Fr. Bared Yeretzian, Rev. Archpriest Fr. Partogh Kherkadjian, Rev. Fr. Zareh Zarkarian, Very Rev. Fr. Ararat Kaltakdjian, Rev. Fr. Vazgen Boyajyan, Rev. Fr. Hay Ari Tanashian, Rev. Fr. Yeghia Kervancioglu and others who carried the parish through different periods of its history.
Each generation inherited the work of the generation before it.
A Changing Armenian Montreal
The Armenian community of Greater Montreal continues to change.
The immigration that once brought Armenians primarily from the Middle East has increasingly been joined by new immigrants arriving directly from Armenia.
At the same time, the geographic centre of the community has shifted.
Many Armenian families now live in Laval and surrounding areas, closer to churches and Armenian institutions located there. Armenian Apostolic parish life in Laval has grown accordingly.
On March 15, 2015, His Grace Bishop Abgar Hovakimyan, Primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church Canadian Diocese, presided over the Annual Assembly of Holy Cross Armenian Apostolic Church of Laval, one indication of the expanding Armenian church presence north of Montreal.
For St. Gregory, these demographic changes have presented challenges.
Many of the parishioners who built and supported the Cathedral during its great period of growth are now elderly, and many have passed away.
Younger families often live farther from Outremont.
Sunday attendance has therefore changed from what earlier generations remember.
But this is not the end of the story.
It is another chapter in the same story of immigration and adaptation that began in 1908.
A New Pastor and a New Generation
A new chapter began on January 12, 2025, when Rev. Fr. Gabriel Vardanyan celebrated his first Divine Liturgy at St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Cathedral of Montreal.
Following the service, His Grace Bishop Abgar Hovakimyan formally introduced Fr. Gabriel to the faithful and wished him a blessed and fruitful ministry.
The arrival of a new priest represented continuity between generations.
More than a century after Armenian immigrants first gathered for worship in Montreal without a church of their own, another generation of Armenians — including families newly arrived from Armenia — continues to find a spiritual home at St. Gregory.
Passing Armenian Faith and Culture to Children
The Cathedral also continues to serve families and children.
On December 7, 2025, the Diocesan Hayarttun organized a joyful New Year and Christmas celebration for children at St. Gregory.
Songs, dances and interactive activities brought families together while helping younger generations experience Armenian culture and traditions in a warm community setting.
Events such as these represent an important part of the Cathedral's role today.
The future of an Armenian church is not measured only by the number of people sitting in the pews on an ordinary Sunday.
It is also measured by whether children hear Armenian music, whether families celebrate their faith together, whether new immigrants find community, and whether Armenian traditions continue to be passed from one generation to the next.
St. Gregory in 2026
In 2026, St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Cathedral remains very much alive.
Throughout the year its doors continue to open for Divine Liturgies, baptisms, weddings, funerals, religious feast days, cultural programs, community gatherings and celebrations.
Families still come to St. Gregory for the most important moments of their lives.
A child is brought to the baptismal font.
A couple stands before the altar to begin married life.
Families gather to say farewell to loved ones.
Children celebrate Christmas.
Parishioners gather around tables for community events.
New Armenian families meet families whose parents and grandparents helped establish the parish decades earlier.
On major religious occasions such as Christmas and Easter, the Cathedral can once again fill with hundreds of worshippers, demonstrating that the connection between the Armenian community and St. Gregory remains deep even when regular patterns of church attendance have changed.
Approaching One Hundred Years
The Cathedral building will reach its 100th anniversary in 2029.
The stone walls that now surround the Armenian altar were already standing decades before the Armenian community acquired the building.
They have witnessed extraordinary change.
They first served another Christian congregation.
They later welcomed a growing Armenian immigrant community.
They witnessed the consecration of an Armenian church.
They heard children learning Armenian.
They saw immigrants arriving from Greece, Egypt, Lebanon, Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East.
Today they welcome another generation arriving from Armenia itself.
Nearly a century of use has naturally brought the challenges that accompany an aging historic building, and successive generations of parishioners and benefactors have undertaken repairs and renovations to preserve it.
But the significance of St. Gregory has never rested only in its stone walls.
Its true history is found in the people who passed through its doors.
The Story Continues
When six Armenians were living in Montreal in 1908, they could not have imagined the Cathedral that would eventually rise at the centre of their community.
The people who followed them built organizations, raised money, purchased property, established schools and committees, created a Diocese, supported clergy and passed their Armenian Christian identity to their children.
Every generation faced different circumstances.
The first struggled simply to establish a community.
Another generation built its institutions.
Another paid for them.
Another filled them.
Today’s generation faces a different responsibility: to carry them forward in a changing world.
St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Cathedral is therefore more than a monument to what Montreal's Armenians accomplished in the past.
It remains a place of worship.
A place of memory.
A place where new Armenians meet established Armenians.
A place for children and families.
A place where Armenian faith, culture and community continue to live.
More than a century after the first Armenian newcomers arrived in Montreal, the story of St. Gregory is still being written.
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