Tag: Ambrose Vretta


Fr. Ambrose Vretta: the rest of the story


A couple weeks ago, I wrote about Fr. Ambrose Vretta, the first parish priest of the Russian churches in both Chicago and Seattle. Toward the end of the article, I said, In December of 1896, Vretta was transferred from Seattle… And I’m not sure where he went. He was only...

Fr. Ambrose Vretta: pioneering priest in Chicago & Seattle


In the past, I've mentioned the Russian Mission's practice of employing "client clergy" -- non-Russian priests with ties to Russia, who served multiethnic or non-Russian parishes in America. St. Raphael and Fr. Sebastian Dabovich are perhaps the most famous examples, but there were many more. One of the earliest of these...