The History of the Œcumenical Canonical Orthodox Church Worldwide The Holy Eastern Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church in North America The American Orthodox Catholic Church Old Catholic Orthodox Church Archbishop Gregory Morra, OSB Archbishop Scholarios-Gennadius III, OSB Metropolitan Œcumenical Canonical Orthodox Church Worldwide Episcopal Imprimatur of the Holy Synod of the Œcumenical Canonical Orthodox Church Worldwide Old Catholic Orthodox Church This history of the church is hereby released under the authority of the Holy Synod of the Œcumenical Canonical Orthodox Church Worldwide which is a direct blood descendant of the American Orthodox Catholic Church chartered in 1927 by Metropolitan Platon and later led by Archbishop Aftimios Ofiesh of Brooklyn, New York and eventually recognized as The Holy Eastern Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church in North America. In its current form the Holy Synod of the Œcumenical Canonical Orthodox Church Worldwide and the Old Catholic Orthodox Church subsidiary recognizes the contributions of the early fathers of this historic church in the person of Metropolitan-Patriarch Denis M. Garrison (Emeritus) through the lineage of Archbishop Aftimios of blessed memory as the true spiritual father of the Church. Therefore, the Holy Synod hereby confers its official imprimatur on the history of the Œcumenical Canonical Orthodox Church Worldwide as a direct historical descendant of the American Orthodox Catholic Church as outlined in this document. Archbishop Scholarios-Gennadius III, OSB Metropolitan By the Authority of the Holy Synod of the Œcumenical Canonical Orthodox Church Worldwide On this 27th day of February (NS) Anno Domini 2013 Feast of Saint Raphael Hawaweeny of Brooklyn The History of the Œcumenical Canonical Orthodox Church Worldwide The history of the Œcumenical Canonical Orthodox Church Worldwide, hereinafter referred to as the “ŒCOCW,” has a long and glorious status, based upon its succession from the original American Orthodox Catholic Church, originally created as “The Holy Eastern Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church in North America.” The American Orthodox Catholic Church was chartered in 1927 by Metropolitan Platon, primate of the then Russian Metropolia in an attempt by canonical Orthodox authorities to create an autocephalous Orthodox Church distinctively North American in expression and practice. The American Orthodox Catholic Church in its early years was ably guided by a young man by the name of Abdullah Aftimios Ofiesh as Archbishop of Brooklyn. The charter for this new church body on the North American continent was established in a letter from Metropolitan Sergius I (Stragorodsky), the 17th patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, which indicated that autonomous Orthodox churches could be founded outside Russia and granted to the new church body the full name “The Holy Eastern Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church in North America,” informally referred as “The American Orthodox Catholic Church”. A portion of that letter of authority stated: “We hereby, on this 2nd day of February (new Style) in the year 1927, charge one of our number, His Eminence the Most Reverend Aftimios, Archbishop of Brooklyn, with the full responsibility and duty of caring and providing for American Orthodoxy in the especial sense of Orthodox Catholic people born in America and primarily English-speaking or any American residents or parishes of whatever nationality or linguistic character or derivation not satisfactorily provided with proper and canonical Orthodox Catholic care, +Archbishop Aftimios of Brooklyn ecclesiastical authority, teaching and ministrations of the Church or who may wish to attach themselves by the properly and legally provided means to an autonomous, independent, American Orthodox Catholic Church ... a distinct, independent, and autonomous branch of the Orthodox Catholic Church... (pp. 34-35).” In the creation of the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) and similar earlier Orthodox bodies, this attempt at establishing a canonical Orthodox body to serve Orthodox Christians in North America met with less than favorable reception. This is evidenced by the continued attempt today of creating an autocephalous or autonomous Orthodox jurisdiction and the obstacles impeding such development by jurisdictions headquartered in the “mother” countries. Despite these obstacles, the American Orthodox Catholic Church continued in its mission to establish viable Orthodox jurisdictions on North American soil that reflected American or New World sensibilities. One luminous development in this attempt to establish a truly North American Orthodoxy was the consecration of Bishop Sophronios (Anthony Bishara) of blessed memory as Bishop of Los Angeles with Episcopal responsibility for all parishes under the Russian Orthodox Church and all territory west of the Mississippi River. These developments were signs of potentially great success, however, with the erection of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America the struggle for primacy by the “mother” churches increased, causing extensive difficulty for Archbishop Aftimios and the fledgling American Orthodox Catholic Church. Nevertheless, the battle continued even after the resignation of Archbishop Aftimios following extensive opposition by newly arriving Orthodox churches on the North American continent. In fraternal respect, the ŒCOCW refrains from enumerating the many unchristian trails that plagued the original founders of the Church and instead focuses on the canonical foundation of the successor jurisdictions of this original Orthodox Church in North America. Following many major challenges and the legal loss of the American Orthodox Catholic Church cathedral located in New York City in 1932, Archbishop Aftimios consecrated two new bishops to carry on this difficult work in the persons of Bishop Ignatius (Nichols) as Archbishop of Washington. Bishop Ignatius is recognized by many to have been the first convert Orthodox bishop in America (Damick, 2009). This assertion attests that Orthodoxy is not a recent addition to the North American religious landscape or North American cultural and ethnic +Archbishop Ignatius of Washington communities. To this leadership was added Bishop Joseph Zuk as Bishop of New Jersey and leader of the newly established Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA, being consecrated by Archbishop Aftimios and Bishop Sophornios Beshara in New York City to serve the Ukrainian Diocese. Bishop Joseph died in Florida in 1934 following a long illness (History of Ukrainian Orthodox Church, 2012). This brief history illustrates the official status of the American Orthodox Catholic Church as established under the unquestioned canonical authority of the Russian +Bishop Joseph Zuk of New Jersey Orthodox Church. An equally important highlight of this early Orthodox jurisdiction is the work accomplished by Metropolitan Sophronios Bishara, who is widely credited with the establishment of Western Rite Orthodoxy on the North American continent. This particular event has resulted in unqualified influence on North American Orthodoxy and is an accomplishment of which Archbishop Aftimios would be eminently proud. Out of these humble beginnings, the American Orthodox Catholic Church has operated under different names and has experienced many difficulties being beset by various internal coupes, desertions, and capitulations. However, despite stories of its demise following the retirement of Archbishop Aftimios and deaths of its early leaders such as Metropolitan Sophronios Bishara (1934), the American Orthodox Catholic Church has continued its difficult life and to date is an active Orthodox entity in a country of increasing ethnic, cultural, language, racial diversity, along with extensive diversity in liturgical complexity and beauty. +Metropolitan Sophronios Bishara On August 28, 1985, the Holy Synod of the American Orthodox Catholic Church following the unexpected death of Metropolitan Francis (Ryan), Bishop Denis Garrison was elected to succeed Metropolitan-Patriarch Francis, as Metropolitan-Patriarch c (Garrison) as Primate VIII of The Holy Eastern Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church in North America/American Orthodox Catholic Church. Metropolitan- Patriarch DENIS was installed and enthroned by the Holy Synod on April 5, 1986 at St. Nicholas Orthodox Catholic Church in Eldersburg, Maryland, at the Council of Baltimore of the North American Holy Synod. +Metropolitan Denis Garrison From the hands of Metropolitan-Patriarch DENIS (Garrison), the church was renamed the Ecumenical Orthodox Catholic Communion. Metropolitan-Patriarch DENIS ably and unselfishly served the church from 1985 through 2005. In January 2005, Metropolitan-Patriarch DENIS resigned as Primate VII and the Church was placed in the hands of Archbishop Scholarios-Gennadius III, OSB as Chairman Pro Tempore with the intention of restructuring the church for service in the 21st century, with the reestablishment of all orders, titles, ecclesiology, and Episcopal privileges held and exercised by Metropolitan-Patriarch DENIS and his predecessors. In 2008, The Holy Synod renamed the Church as the Œcumenical Canonical Orthodox Church Worldwide (ŒCOCW) as a direct successor of The Holy Eastern Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church in North America/American Orthodox Catholic Church. Following a special synod called by the bishops of the ŒCOCW, Archbishop Jorge Rodriguez-Villa was elected as Metropolitan-Patriarch of the