Orthodox History

Moscow v. the Metropolia in the Supreme Court, Part 1(a): Justice Reed’s majority opinion revisited

Yesterday, I discussed Justice Reed's majority opinion in Kedroff v. St. Nicholas Cathedral, a landmark 1952 Supreme Court case pitting the Moscow Patriarchate's North American jurisdiction against the Metropolia (today's OCA). The dispute was about which group -- Moscow or the Metropolia -- was the rightful owner of St. Nicholas...

Moscow v. the Metropolia in the Supreme Court, Part 1: Justice Reed’s majority opinion

It's been forever since I wrote an article here at OH.org. I've been incredibly busy, with my family, my local parish, and law school classes taking up all of my time. I'm in summer classes, as well, so there won't be much reprieve over the next couple of months. Fortunately,...

New Book from SOCHA Assoc. Director: <i>Orthodoxy & Heterodoxy</i>

Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick, one of the Associate Directors of the Society for Orthodox Christian History in the Americas, has a newly published work from Conciliar Press, Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy: Exploring Belief Systems Through the Lens of the Ancient Christian Faith. While the work does not pertain explicitly to the...

30 Year Anniversary of Bob Marley’s Death

In honor of the 30th anniversary of the passing of Bob Marley, who finished his life as a member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (his baptism was just six months before his death), we're reposting this piece we posted last year featuring the program from his funeral in Jamaica. Memory...

George Brown: Pioneer of Orthodoxy in Chicago

In March, I gave a lecture at Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church in Westchester, Illinois, on the subject of Chicago's Orthodox history. Since then, I've begun to probe deeper into the early history of Orthodoxy in Chicago. Many people have asked about one man in particular -- George Brown, an...

The Atlas of American Orthodox Christian Churches

Editor's note: We've received the following announcement from Alexei Krindatch, the Orthodox researcher and sociologist. Very soon, the first-ever Atlas of American Orthodox Christian Churches, edited by Krindatch, will be published by Holy Cross Orthodox Press. I have made several contributions to the Atlas, including the historical census data, a...

Programming note

Just a quick note to our readers to apologize for the lack of new material recently. As it happens, all of our regular writers are very busy with other obligations. Personally, besides the usual demands on my time, I'm gearing up for law school final exams. And with Holy Week...

Fr. Sava Matanovich: the first Serbian Orthodox priest in America

Just a brief note today: I had always assumed that Fr. Sebastian Dabovich was the first Serbian Orthodox priest in America, but apparently he wasn't. The first Serbian priest in America -- and probably the first Serbian priest the California-born Dabovich had ever seen -- was Fr. Sava Matanovich. From...

Scandal and murder: the story of Fr. Parthenios Kolonis

The following item appeared in the Washington Post (among other papers) on July 6, 1933: Martins Ferry, Ohio, July 5 (A.P.). – The Rev. Parthenios Colonis, 72, pastor of the Martins Ferry Greek Orthodox Catholic Church, died today from hatchet-inflicted wounds. He was found unconscious in the basement of the...

What is a parish?

In my recent lecture on Orthodoxy in Chicago, given at Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church in Westchester, Illinois, I cautiously addressed the still-controversial issue of the 1897 split in Chicago's Greek Orthodox community. Let me go over the basic details very briefly, before moving onto the broader question of what...