Tag: ROCOR


Hierarchical, Congregational, and the problems of the “parish”


In 1993, the Appeals Court of Massachusetts rendered its decision in (brace yourself) Primate and Bishops' Synod of Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia v. Russian Orthodox Church of Holy Resurrection, Inc. We'll just call it Primate from here on out. This case involved a Massachusetts ROCOR parish that left ROCOR...

ROCOR/OCA Episcopal Concelebration


Editor's note: The following article was written by Christopher Orr. Update (6/18/11): What follows is an updated version of the original article. On May 24, 2011 – the feast of the holy Equals-of-the-Apostles, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Enlighteners of the Slavs and the name day of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow...

Orthodoxy & the Courts: ecclesiastical questions are unavoidable


Until the early 1980s, some OCA parishes in the Diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania used the Old Calendar. In 1982, then-Bishop Herman Swaiko of Philadelphia ordered all of his parishes to switch to the New Calendar. Predictably, this wasn't universally well-received. The majority of St. Basil Orthodox Church in Simpson, PA...

More eyewitness accounts from the Episcopal Assembly


The reader may be interested to take a look at some eyewitness accounts of the recent Episcopal Assembly published by the ROCOR from three of the Russian bishops serving in North America, Abp. Justinian (MP USA), Bp. Job (MP Canada) and Bp. Jerome (ROCOR). (One of the more notable elements...

The Bulgarian Diocese in Exile


The longest-serving hierarch in American Orthodox history was Abp. Kyrill Yonchev (1964-2007), until late this past June, when his record tenure of nearly 43 years was exceeded by Metr. Philip Saliba of the Antiochian Archdiocese. Kyrill was well-known and well-loved as the OCA's diocesan bishop for Western Pennsylvania as well...