Diocese of KARPUT (KHARPUT)
KARPUT (KHARPUT), Diocese of. — A city of Fourth Armenia in the district of Hantzit (Arzitene) in Turkey. The Mekhitarists first brought Catholicism there; in 1858 many other Catholic priests joined in the apostolate. Pius IX in 1805 decreed the erection of K. as a episcopal see; Stefano Israelian was its first shepherd.
In the diocese of K. Latin missionaries also arrived in 1867, who formed some communities of the Latin rite. At present the diocese is devastated.
BIBL.: B. Gams, *Series episcoporum*, Ratisbona 1873, p. 456; S. Eprikan, *Dizionario topogr. dell'Armenia*, II, Venezia 1907, V. indice; A. Alexandrian, *Histoire abrégée des sièges*, Beirut 1908, pp. 37-39. Serafino Akelian