INFORMATION BULLETIN

(Continued from last issue)

1. “The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia,” known also as “The Church Abroad,” has its origin in Europe. It was organized after the Communist Revolution by Russian Refugee Bishops seeking a continuation of the Russian Church outside of Russian territory.

The first Seat of the Church Abroad was in Constantinople (1920), subsequently transferred to Karlovitz in Yugoslavia (1921), then in Munich, Germany (1945) and finally in the United States (1948).

In Yugoslavia, the Russian Bishops lived under the protection of the Serbian Patriarch. After leaving Yugoslavia, the churches were governed by a Sobor of Bishops, headed at the present by His Eminence Metropolitan Anastassy.

Canonically and jurisdictionally, the “Russian Orthodox Church Abroad” finds itself in a very unusual position. It has no ties with any autocephalous Orthodox Church and recognizes no territorial limitations of its jurisdictions.

Fundamentally, it is a Church of the immigrants which broke relations with the Moscow Patriarchate, considering it as a prisoner, deprived of freedom and under the yoke of the atheistic Soviet government. Its existence is limited up to the time “of the restoration of normal conditions of social and ecclesiastical life in Russia.”

Theoretically, “The Russian Church Abroad” claims jurisdiction over all Russian Orthodox Churches outside of the Soviet Union.

In fact, the authority of the Sobor of Bishops of the Church Abroad is recognized only by some forty parishes in America and some parishes in Europe and South America, particularly those established by the so-called White Russian emigrants.

In the United States, the Church Abroad lists the following Bishops and Districts:

1. Most Rev. Metropolitan Anastassy, Primate and President of the

Synod with his residence in New York;

2. Most Rev. Seraphim, Archbishop of Chicago and Detroit, with his residence in Chicago;

3. Most Rev. Nikon, Archbishop of Washington and Florida, with his residence in New York;

4. Most Rev. Vitaly, Archbishop of Montreal and Canada, with his residence in Montreal;

5. Most Rev. Anthony, Archbishop of Los Angeles, with his residence in Hollywood, California.

In addition to this, “The Russian Church Abroad” lists under its jurisdiction a Romanian Orthodox Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Teofil Ionescu, with his residence in Detroit and with jurisdiction over five parishes, one in the United States, two in Canada, one in France, and one in Brazil, South America.

“The Russian Church Abroad” supports a monastery in Jordanville, New York, and it has a Bishop-Vicar in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the Rt.

Rev. Sava.

* * *

“The Patriarchal Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Catholic Church in America” came into existence in 1933, when the Patriarch Locum-Tenens, Metropolitan Sergius, appointed Bishop Benjamin (Fedchen-kov) as Archbishop of the Aleutian Islands and North America and Exarch of the Russian Patriarchate in the Americas with residence in New York.

The mission of the newly appointed Exarch was to return the Americans of Russian extraction to canonical obedience to the Moscow Patriarchate.

At the beginning, very few Priests and parishes in the United States recognized his jurisdiction. During World War II, Metropolitan Benjamin was active in Russian War Relief, and a few more parishes joined his Diocese.

In 1945, Metropolitan Benjamin went to the Soviet Union, and from that time on he spent most of his time in the Soviet Union where he was even appointed Metropolitan of Rostow. He died in 1961.

In the meantime, to replace him as Exarch in America, some local Bishops were appointed temporarily. In 1960, the Moscow Patriarchate sent Metropolitan Boris as Patriarchal Exarch. He came on a temporary visa to the United States. Later, he was replaced by Metropolitan John (Wedland).

In February, 1962, the Moscow Patriarchate decided the title of the Metropolitan in America to be: “Of New York and the Aleutians, Patriarchal Exarch, of North and South America.”

The Patriarchal Exarchate administrates about forty parishes in the United States and Canada and lists the following bishops:

1. Metropolitan John (Wedland), Patriarchal Exarch with residence in New York:

2. The Rt. Rev. Dositheus, Bishop of Brooklyn:

3. The Most Rev. Pantelimon, Archbishop of Edmonton and all Canada, with residence in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

The Russian Exarchate claims jurisdiction over all Russian Orthodox Parishes and advocates closer ties with the Moscow Patriarchate.

The Exarchate maintains itself administratively with material assistance and subsidies from the Patriarchate in Moscow.

In 1963, the Patriarchal Exarch John from the United State submitted to the Moscow Patriarchate a Resolution to invite all Russian Orthodox Churches in America to recognize the authority of the Moscow Patriarchate, and in exchange, full autocephalous status will be granted to the American Churches.

The Holy Synod in Moscow accepted the Resolution and gave it official standing. Some observers consider this move as a welcome chance for the establishment of an American Orthodox Church. The proposal is being considered and analyzed by all Orthodox Churches in the United States.

The Serbian Orthodox Church

As it is to be expected, the first Serbian Church in America established in 1894 in Jackson, Califoran. was dedicated to St. Sava, the national Saint of the Serbians.

For more than twenty-five years, the Serbian congregations in America organized parishes under the jurisdiction of the Russian Bishop of San Francisco.

In 1926, the existing 35 parishes united under the jurisdiction of a new Serbian Dioceses and Archimandrite Mardary was consecrated by Patriarch Dimitry of Belgrade as the first Bishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church in America.

In 1927, the National Church Assembly adopted Statutes and By-Laws which were approved by the Serbian Patriarchate. The Diocese established its headquarters in Libertyville, Illinois.

From 1940, it was headed by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Dionisije. In 1950, the Diocese purchased property in Shadeland, Pennsylvania, and assigned it for Summer camps.

Jurisdictionally, the Diocese was under the Patriarchate in Belgrade until 1963. In this year, the Holy Synod of the Serbian Patriarchate decided to dissolve the old Serbian Orthodox Diocese of the United States and Canada and divide the territory into three Dioceses:

1. The Middle Eastern American Canadian Diocese (Detroit, Michigan);

2. The Middle Western Diocese (Libertyville, Illinois);

3. The Western Diocese (Los Angeles, California).

The former Bishop Dionisije was suspended by the Holy Synod, and three new Bishops were appointed by the Patriarchate and subsequently they were consecrated; Firmilian (Ocokolich), Stefan (Lastavica) and Gregory (Udicki).

Bishop Dionisije, who previously advocated canonical ties with the Patriarchate in Belgrade, changed his attitude and refused to submit to the Belgrade decision, claiming that the Church in Yugoslavia is not free and is being controlled by the Communists.

The dispute is still going on at this time. A National Church Assembly was called to consider the problem. Civil Court cases also were initiated.

There are about 150,000 Serbian Orthodox in the Untied States and Canada.

The Syrian Orthodox Church

The first Syrian Orthodox immigrants established in the United States received spiritual assistance from the Syrian Mission of the Russian Orthodox Church, founded in 1892.

In 1904, the Archimandrite Raphael was consecrated as Bishop-Vicar to the Russian Archbishop and entrusted with the mission to shepherd Syrian Orthodox churches and activities in America. (Bishop Raphael is the first Orthodox Bishop to be consecrated in the United States.)

In 1914, a Syrian Metropolitan named Germanos came to the United States and started organizing Syrian Orthodox Churches parallel to the Syrian Mission of the Russian Church.

For many years, the Syrians remained under two separate ecclesiastical jurisdictions. In 1933, the Archimandrite Antony Bashir was elected and consecrated as Bishop of the American Syrian Churches. With his leadership, the great majority of Syrian parishes united under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese.

In June. 1940, Archbishop Antony was elevated to the rank of Metropolitan of Nev York and AH Aaaerica. having under the jurisdiction approximate ly one hundred parishes in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

There are more than 100,000 Syrian Orthodox in the United States. Due to the fact that many of the Syrians do not use frequently the Arabic language, the Syrian Archdiocese is adopting the English language more than any other Orthodox Church in America.

Parallel to the Archdiocese which includes the great majority of Syrian churches, there is another Syrian Diocese called the “Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Toledo, Ohio, and Dependencies in North America” with headquarters in Toldeo, Ohio.

This Diocese started with the consecration as Bishop of Samuel David, the pastor of St. George Cathedral in Toledo, Ohio, on April 19, 1936.

Bishop Samuel extended his jurisdiction to some parishes in Ohio, Michigan and Mexico. In 1953, he was recognized as a full-fledged member of the Holy Synod of the Antiochian Church and in 1955, he was elevated to the rank of Metropolitan under the direct jurisdiction of the Antiochian Synod. He died in 195 8. After his death. there was a movement to incorporate the Toledo group of parishes under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese headed by Metropolitan Anthony Bashir, who is himself a member of the Holy Synod of Antioch.

A Vicar, Michael Shaheen, was selected and ordained as a Bishop to assist Metropolitan Antony, but later the Vicar was made a Metropolitan by the Antiochian Synod and assigned to continue the Toledo Archdiocese under the direct jurisdiction of the Holy Antiochian Synod.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church

At the time of the spreading of Christianity to the Eastern Slavs, the Ukrainian City of Kiev was a stronghold of Orthodoxy. The Metro-politanate of Kiev for hundreds of years was under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Following the annexation of Ukraine to Moscow, the Ukrainian Church shared the fate of its people and became a component of the Russian Church, losing its independence.

In line with the Rnssificarion of Ukraine, the ecclesiastical leaders in Ukrainian territory were mostly Russians.

Following the revoluţionary upheaval of 1917, the Ukrainian Nationalists proclaimed an independent Ukrainian State which was recognized by the Central Powers.

The Church followed suit and a Sobor composed of clergy and laity meeting in the Cathedral of Kiev in 1918 decided to proclaim the autocephalous status of the Ukrainian Church and elected an Archpriest to become its Metropolitan. Two years later, the Soviets gained control over Russia, and Ukraine became one of the Republics of the U.S.S.R. During these troubled times, Ukrainian Bishops could not be ordained and the Ukrainian Independent Church could be organized only outside of the Soviet Union.

In the United States and Canada, there were Ukrainian immigrants, but they belonged to the Russian jurisdiction.

The first Ukrainain Church on the American continent was organized in Canada under the leadership of Bishop John Theodorovich, one of the leaders of the movement to establish an autocephalous Church in Ukraine. In the United States, a group of Ukrainian churches united under the leadership of Bohdan (Shpilka), who was ordained in 1937 as a Bishop by the Greek Archbishop Athenagoras.

During the Second World War, another try was made for the establishment of a Ukrainian autocephalous Church, at a time when Ukraine was occupied by the Germans. Bishops were ordained by Orthodox Bishops from Poland, but in 1945 most of the Ukrainian Bishops had to flee the country and came to America.

After many conversations between various groups and after some former Uniates joined the Ukrainian Orthodox parishes, a convention was held in 1949 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Archbishop Mstyslaw (Skrupnyk) was elected to head the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America with Bishop Bohdan as Suffragan Bishop. In the same year, Metropolitan John Theodorovich, in the hope of putting an end to an old doubt about the validity of his ordination, was re-ordained as a Bishop by Archbishop Mstyslaw and the Exarch of the Alexandrian Patriarchate, Christopher.

This act paved the way for a union of the two larger groups: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America

headed by Archbishop Mstyslaw and the American Ukrainian Orthodox Church headed by Metropolitan John. Thus in 1950, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of U.S.A. was established. Today it lists the following Bishops:

1. Most Rev. Metropolitan John, with residence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;

2. Most Reverend Archbishop Mstyslaw, with residence in Southbound Brook, New Jersey;

3. Rt. Rev. Bishop Volodimir, with residence in Detroit, Mich.

About one hundred parishes with 90,000 communicants are under the

jurisdiction of this Church.

*

Bishop Bohdan did not join this group and remained under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople as a Suffragan Bishop to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in America.

Under his jurisdiction are about 25 parishes in the United States. Canada

and South America.

*

The Ukrainian Orthodox faithful in Canada have their own jurisdiction headed by Metropolitan Ilarion, with headquarters in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

In the United States, there is also another group composed of parishes forming the “Holy Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in Exile,” headed by the Most Rev. Archbishop Palladios, with residence in New York.

By Bishop VALERIAN D. TRIFA