Armenian-Catholics first came to the island during the Frankish Era from the nearby Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. It is unclear whether they had their own structure during the Latin Era or if they were under the Latin Church of Cyprus, as has been the case since the Ottoman Era. During the Ottoman Era, there was a very limited conversion of Armenian Orthodox to Catholicism, mainly due to the proselytising activities of the Franciscan mission in Nicosia and Larnaca, especially during the 17th and 18th centuries; however, these must have been temporary apostasies and their number never exceeded 50 at any given time. In 1794 the small Armenian Catholic community of Larnaca was granted some holy chalices from the auction of the belongings of the old Capuchin monastery of the town. It was during the British Era that the Armenian-Catholic community increased in number, due to the arrival of a large number of refugees from the Armenian Genocide. In 1931, there were about 200 Armenian-Catholics in Cyprus most of them became attached to the Latin places of worship, especially the Holy Cross cathedral in Nicosia and Saint Joseph's convent in Larnaca; between 1921-1923, the latter housed a small Armenian-Catholic school, run by Abbot Jean Kouyoumdjian - who served at the convent between 1921-1928. In 1960, there were less than 100 Armenian-Catholics. However, their number decreased in the following years, due to emigration to other countries and assimilation with the Armenian-Cypriot, the Latin-Cypriot and/or the Greek-Cypriot community. However, due to the influx of Lebanese-Armenians to Cyprus since the mid-1970s, there has been a small increase in the number of Armenian-Catholics on the island. Currently, local Armenian-Catholics are less than 20, in addition to about 30 foreign Armenians.
How many years did Abbot Jean Kouyoumdjian serve at the convent?
7