Month: March 2010


St. Raphael and the Episcopalians in 1910


At the turn of the last century, relations between the Orthodox and Anglican Churches were quite warm. They cooled a bit in 1905, when St. Tikhon ordained the former Episcopal priest Ingram Nathaniel Irvine to the Orthodox priesthood, but even so, many on both sides of the dialogue felt that...

A Greek bishop in America in 1893 (Part 2)


Last week, I introduced Archbishop Dionysius Latas of Zante, a Greek hierarch who visited America in 1893. When we left his story, he had arrived in New York City and was en route to Saratoga Springs, where the Episcopalian Bishop Henry Potter had invited him. We'll pick up the story...

A photo of Fr. Paul Kedrolivanksy


A few weeks ago, I did a podcast on the apparent murder of Fr. Paul Kedrolivansky, dean of the San Francisco Russian cathedral. At the time, I wasn't aware of any surviving images of Kedrolivansky. Recently, however, I discovered the above photo, in the wonderful Alaska's Digital Archives. It was...

Source of the week: Schmemann on Vatican II


Fr. Alexander Schmemann was one of the observers at Vatican II, the landmark 1960s council of the Roman Catholic Church. His reaction to the event is priceless -- Schmemann took the "opportunity to thank God" that he was Orthodox. Here's the story, from the New York Times (11/16/1963): A Russian Orthodox...

A Greek bishop in America in 1893


In 1893, the World's Fair was held in Chicago. In conjunction with the Fair, something called the "World's Parliament of Religions" was held from September 11-27. This was a remarkable gathering, which brought together not only Christian leaders of various denominations, but people of every religious stripe -- Jews, Muslims,...

Source of the Week: Dabovich on Bishop Nestor


On today's episode of my American Orthodox History podcast, I talk about the tragic death of Bishop Nestor Zass, head of the Diocese of the Aleutian Islands and Alaska from 1879 to 1882. One of Bp Nestor's parishioners in San Francisco was the 19-year-old Jovan Dabovich, the future Archimandrite Sebastian....

Can you solve this mystery?


I recently received an email from Fr. Timothy Sawchak, of Holy Trinity OCA Church in Kansas City. He sent the above photo, of a mystery clergyman. It was, apparently, discovered at an old studio and given to Annunciation Greek Church, also in Kansas City.  There was no writing on the...

The death of St. Raphael


This past Saturday was February 27, the 95th anniversary of the death of St. Raphael Hawaweeny, the great Syrian Bishop of Brooklyn. His death set off more than a week of commemorations in the Syrian Orthodox community. Telegrams immediately went out to Syrian parishes all over the country. In fact, the...