A brief historical review on
Western Archdiocese of USA
 

Since the establishment of the Archdiocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church in 1952, when the venerable His Holiness Mor Ignatius Ephrem Barsoum was Patriarch of Antioch, all the Syriac Churches in the United States and Canada were under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocesan Headquarters in New Jersey.

The Syriac Orthodox population is shifting. In 1950s and 1960s many of the Syriac people immigrated from Iraq and Syria to Lebanon. Within Iraq, they have been moving from the northern city of Mosul to Baghdad and Kuwait. The most serious erosion of the community has taken place in southeast Turkey, where only a few Syriac Orthodox remain. Earlier in 20th century many Syriac Orthodox also immigrated to Western Europe, the Americas and Australia for economic and political reasons.

As a result of further immigration that ensued, the Syriac Orthodox Church today has faithful not only in the Middle East and India, but in Europe, the Americas and Australia as well.

The Syrian Orthodox Archdioceses of the United States and Canada are part of the venerable Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Syriac Orthodox families immigrated to the USA, mostly in Rhode Island and Detroit.  Many also settled in Quebec, Canada. 

In 1952 Archbishop Mor Athanasius Yeshue Samuel was appointed Patriarchal vicar to the US and Canada by His Holiness Mor Ignatius Ephrem Barsoum.  Five years later he was formally proclaimed by His Holiness, Archbishop of the Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of the USA and Canada.   In recent years, a significant number of Syriac Orthodox have come to America from Middle East.

The Californian Archdiocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church, presently called ‘Archdiocese of the Western USA,’ was formally established by an Encyclical issued from the Holy Synod of the Holy See of Antioch presided by His Holiness Mor Ignatius Zakka Iwas, the Patriarch and Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, held in the Headquarter of the Patriarchate in Damascus on November, 1995.  Its establishment was the natural outcome After Archbishop Athanasius Samuel’s death in April 1995, and of the continued vigorous growth of the faithful Syriac people population and the number of their churches in the Western States of the United States of America, and due to the distance separating the West from the Archdiocesan office in New Jersey.

After Archbishop Samuel’s death in April 1995, the Syriac Holy Synod held in November 1995, divided the Archdiocese of the United States and Canada into three jurisdictions: 1. The Patriarchal Vicariate of the Eastern United States (260 Elm Avenue, Teaneck, New Jersey 07666), is headed by Metropolitan Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim.  2. The Patriarchal Vicariate of the Western United States (900 N. Glenoaks Blvd., Burbank, California 91501), is under the pastoral care of Metropolitan Mor Clemis Eugene Kaplan. 3. The Patriarchal Vicariate of Canada (4375 Henri Bourassa Ouest, St. Laurent, Quebec H4L 1A5), is headed by Metropolitan Mor Timotheos Ephrem Aboodi.

Through the personal efforts of H. E. Archbishop Mor Clemis Eugene Kaplan who started his duty in April, 1996, the Church in the Western Archdiocese entered into a new era of spiritual growth and activities. The Archdiocese of the Western USA comprises of all Churches and Institutions in its jurisdiction, The Archdiocese center in the Western US is in Burbank, California, and currently the Western Archdiocese consists of twelve parishes, in southern California (Burbank, San Fernando, Orange County, and San Diego), and in Northern California (San Jose, and Chico) as well as in Oregon (Portland) and Arizona (Phoenix) and Texas (Huston, and Corpus Christy). A church has also been started in some areas like High Desert in California (Barstow, Victorville, Hesperia, and Apple Valley) and in Colorado, Denver. Archbishop Mor Clemis Eugene Kaplan is the Patriarchal Vicar.

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