St. Gregory the Illuminator
About Our Parish
Մեր Ծուխին Մասին
Who We Are
St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Catholic Church of Toronto is a faith community rooted in one of the oldest continuous Christian traditions in the world. We are an Eastern Catholic community in full communion with the Bishop of Rome — heirs to the Armenian Apostolic tradition and full members of the universal Catholic Church.
We gather each Sunday for the Armenian Rite Divine Liturgy — a form of Christian worship shaped by seventeen centuries of Armenian theological tradition, enriched by the witness of the holy martyrs of Armenia and the spiritual genius of great Armenian Doctors of the Church. The Divine Liturgy we celebrate is both ancient and alive, uniting us with Armenian Catholics around the world and with every generation of Armenian believers who came before us.
Our community includes faithful of Armenian origin and those drawn to our Eastern Catholic heritage from many backgrounds. All are welcome in the house of God.
Our Patron: St. Gregory the Illuminator
Our parish bears the name of St. Gregory the Illuminator (c. 252–328), Enlightener of Armenia and the apostle who baptized an entire nation into the Christian faith.
After years of imprisonment in a pit called Khor Virap, Gregory emerged to heal King Tiridates III and bring the Gospel of Christ to the royal court. In 301 AD, Armenia became the first nation in history to adopt Christianity as its state religion — a fact of immense historical and spiritual significance.
Gregory founded the Armenian Church, ordained its first bishops, and established the See of Caesarea as its mother church before Armenia's own patriarchate was established. His witness reminds us that the Christian faith is worth suffering for — and that a single faithful witness can transform a nation.
Feast day: September 30 (shared with St. Hripsimé and companions)
The Armenian Catholic Church
The Armenian Catholic Church is one of the Eastern Catholic Churches — ancient apostolic churches that, while preserving their own liturgical rites, theological traditions, and ecclesiastical customs, are in full communion with the Pope of Rome and the universal Catholic Church.
Our Church traces its formal union with Rome to 1742, when Patriarch Abraham-Pierre I Ardzivian established the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate. Today, the Armenian Catholic Church is headed by the Patriarch of Cilicia, currently based in Beirut, Lebanon, and has communities throughout the Middle East, Europe, North America, and the Armenian diaspora worldwide.
Theologically, Armenian Catholics hold the Catholic faith in its fullness — the same sacramental life, the same Creed, the same moral teaching as the rest of the Catholic Church — while preserving the distinctive spirituality, hymnography, and liturgical tradition of the Armenian Church. The Armenian Divine Liturgy is one of the most ancient eucharistic prayers in Christendom.
"The Armenian Catholic Church is a living bridge between the ancient Christian East and the See of Peter — a community that need not choose between its Armenian heritage and its Catholic faith, because in our tradition, these have always been one."
St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Catholic Church of Toronto is the only Armenian Catholic parish in the Greater Toronto Area — and one of very few in Canada. We serve as a spiritual home for Armenian Catholics across Ontario and beyond.
Our Community in Toronto
The Armenian community of Toronto is one of the most vibrant in the diaspora. Toronto's Armenians have come in waves over the past century — survivors of the Armenian Genocide and their descendants, Lebanese Armenians who emigrated during the civil war years, and more recently, Armenians from the former Soviet republics.
St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Catholic Church has been a spiritual anchor for Armenian Catholics in this city — a place where faith, language, and cultural memory are kept alive together. Our Liturgy is celebrated in Classical Armenian (Grabar), the language in which the Scriptures were first translated into Armenian by St. Mesrob Mashtots and his companions in the fifth century.
Today, our parish is led by Fr. Haig Chahinian, who also serves as Chief Executive Officer of Salt + Light Catholic Media Foundation. Our community gathers not only for the Divine Liturgy but for feast days, memorial services, pastoral programs, and the ongoing life of a family united in faith.
Come and Worship With Us
Divine Liturgy is celebrated every Sunday. All are welcome at St. Gregory the Illuminator.
100 Northdale Rd., Toronto, Ontario M2L 2M1