In November 2014, with the Pontifical Encyclical of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, the Armenian-Mexican community, which was once part of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America was transferred to operate under the jurisdiction of its Sister Diocese, the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America.

Since the transfer, His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Diocesan Primate, has paid more than a dozen pastoral visits to the Armenian-Mexican community in search of its ancestral religious and cultural roots, offering the flock of Christ spiritual guidance, care, and nourishment.

On Sunday, April 28, 2019, assisted at the Holy Altar by the Very Rev. Fr. Sasoon Dz. V. Zumrookhdian, Pastor of St. Geragos Armenian Church of Las Vegas, the Primate celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of the Maronite Catholic Eparchy in Mexico City. Accompanying the Primate on his pastoral visit to the community was Mr. Asadour Sarafian.

The service was graciously hosted by Bishop Georges M. Saad Abi Younes, Eparch of the Maronite Catholic Eparchy in Mexico City.

Close to 100 faithful attended the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. Among the dignitaries in attendance was His Excellency Ara Ayvazyan, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to Mexico. Mrs. Sonia Arakelian, founder and curator of the “Armenia: An Open Wound” Armenian genocide exhibition in Mexico’s Museum of Memory and Tolerance and a recipient of a Pontifical Encyclical of the Catholicos of All Armenians, the first individual in the Diocese of the Armenian Church of Mexico to receive such an honor.

PRIMATE'S EASTER MESSAGE (español)
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At the conclusion of the service, Ambassador Ayvazyan delivered welcoming remarks to Archbishop Derderian and his delegation and conveyed words of gratitude to the Primate for his compassionate care and keenness in uniting the faithful of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Mexico City.

In 2017, the Primate presided over the dedication of the new embassy building of the Republic Armenia in Mexico’s capital. In the same year, His Holiness Karekin II, the Catholicos of All Armenians, paid his first-ever Pontifical Visit to the largest Central American country.