BUENOS AIRES — Argentina has the largest community of Armenians in South America and it is an active and influential segment of the Armenian diaspora. Visitors are always amazed when they come to Armenia Street, in the now trendy Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires, and see how many Armenian institutions are located there, one next to another, with Armenian flags waving in the air. In fact, many call this area called “pequena Armenia” or little Armenia.
As in many other countries, the Armenian Church is at the heart of organized community life, with its administrative headquarters, Centro Armenio, and the Cathedral of St. Gregory the Illuminator, located on Armenia Street. The Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Argentina and Chile, Bishop Aren Shaheenian, provided information and perspectives on the community. (See an accompanying article on the Tekeyan Cultural Association and its newspaper Sardarabad here.)
While Chile is also part of his diocese, the community there is small, numbering around 3,000, the bishop said, and there is no church there, nor are there any Armenian institutions outside of a Hay Dun (Armenia House) gathering place. He or his clerics visit several times a year for services and events.
Born in Baghdad, Iraq, the 55-year-old clergyman was elevated to the rank of bishop last year. He was ordained a celibate priest in 2000 and after serving in Italy, Armenia, Great Britain and the Netherlands, in 2019 he came to Buenos Aires to become the pastor of St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral, the seat of the Armenian Diocese in Argentina. In December 2022 he became the Primate of the diocese. Unlike in North America, no administrative split occurred in the Armenian churches here, which are all under the jurisdiction of the Catholicos of All Armenians in Echmiadzin.
While there is no census of the Argentine Armenian population, Bishop Shaheenian declared that it is usually estimated at roughly 130,000-150,000, with a majority being the 4th-6th generations in the country. Consequently, he said: “Often you take a taxi and you start speaking with the driver and you see, as here the name of the taxi driver must be displayed by law, that the driver turns out to have an Armenian last name. When you ask him, he says no, it was my parents or grandparents who were Armenian. They immigrated. I am the 3rd or 4th generation. So through my name I am Armenian.”
Such a person, perhaps 40 or 50 years old, does not say initially that he of Armenian descent, Bishop Shaheenian said. When pressed, he might recall that when his grandmother was alive, he would go to the Armenian Church and to events of organizations, and his family still remembers his grandmother and cooks certain foods. However, he married, for example, a Colombian woman, and his children married people of Italian descent, or others, so that, the bishop continued, the call of the blood no longer remains among them.
