Pontifical Legation of Western Europe of the Armenian Apostolic Church

As the Pontifical Legate of the Western Europe Barsamian’s responsibility has been organizing Armenian Church communities in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Malta. Because of the political and social reasons, during the past 30 years many Armenians immigrated to Europe from the Middle East, Armenia and former Soviet states. Presently there are about 35,000 Armenians living in Belgium, 35,000 in Spain, 30,000 in the Netherlands, 7,000 in Italy, 500 in Malta and 300 in Portugal. Overall, the Armenian Church in these countries is not organized well or not organized at all.