HEOCACNA and Bishop Sophronios(us)


Bishop Sophronios/Sophronius (Beshara) was a bishop for the Holy Eastern Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church of North America (HEOCACNA), an enterprise started by Bishop Aftimios.  For all intents and purposes, the jurisdictional unity attempt died in 1933.  Bishop Sophronius, however, was the last bishop.  The date of his death has...

Yet Another Priest is Taken to Court


In the middle of the twentieth century, Fr. Boris Burden (+1973) played important roles in American Orthodoxy.  It was he and Fr. Michael Gelsinger who rallied behind the attempt in the late 20s and early 30s to unite Orthodoxy and they were the key players, together with George E. Phillies...

Orthodoxy in Alaska after 1885 and Protestant Missionaries


The Russian Orthodoxy course I am teaching at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, is drawing to a close.  Since I am the instructor, we devoted part of that course to an introduction to the Russian Mission in North America and another part to Orthodoxy in America more generally.  So, to...

Archbishop Arseny Addendum


As an addendum, I would like to make a couple notes. First, I should state that there are aspects of the case and testimonies that I have not highlighted that may deserve further scrutiny and there are some details I have examined and/or questioned about which I could be wrong. ...

Some Mildly Humorous Quotes from the Criminal Trial


The court transcript includes some mildly humorous lines. Obviously, they're more humorous to those who are reading along through the entire transcript, but they're good enough that I thought maybe after all I've posted, a few lines to lighten things a bit might be acceptable. The first is a zinger...

Archbishop Arseny Post 4: The Defense Completes its Case


First, by way of a quick preface, I want to note the name of Archbishop Arseny's wife: Paraskevya [see the vita by Fr. John Hainsworth, also available in hard copy through Alexander Press].  I noticed I had not mentioned her name and she does have one.  Paraskevya is not just...

The Criminal Libel Trial and Archbishop Arseny, Part 2


Well, this project has become a little lengthier than I intended, so the number of postings may be increasing.  I do sincerely apologize for this.  I simply did not want to throw together too long of a post.  In this post, I am going to provide an analysis of the...