Clergy in the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand

This is a collection of articles about Antiochian Orthodox priests who have served in Australia or New Zealand.

New South Wales

• V. Rev. Fr. Nicholas Shehadie, exarch of Australia and New Zealand, 1913-1934.

• V. Rev. Fr. Michael Shehadie, parish priest of St. George Church, Redfern, 1934-51.

V. Rev. Exarch Malatius Hussney was from Tripoli Mina, Lebanon. Assisted by his Khourieh Adele and their family, he was rector of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church, Redfern, NSW, Australia, from February 1953 until his repose on October 29, 1956. He was the father of Essay Hussney, ordained as Fr. Malatius (Essam) Hussney.

During his time as rector, the foundation stone of the parish of St George was laid in October 1953 by Greek Orthodox Archbishop Theophylactos, and the first services in the as-yet unfinished church were the Pascha services of 1954. The iconostasis of Queensland maple was finished in 1956, before his repose.

Rt. Rev. Archim. Anthony (Woolf) was the rector of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church Redfern, NSW, and Patriarchal Exarch to Australia, arriving April 6, 1957 Under his guidance the Antiochian Orthodox Church in Australia was active in the Australian Council of Churches.

He was described as 'very popular with young people because [with him] they understood what was happening. Most of all he would take them out on trips, such as to Luna Park. When he came to visit, families felt proud of themselves because he parked his big American car outside. He would sit with all the children in the kitchen.' (St George Cathedral and its People, 2004, p. 40)

Having left for Damascus on February 12, 1961, Archim. Anthony reposed en route at Cairo in April 1961.

Rev. Fr. Stephen Godley was a priest of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand. He was a deacon by 1982[1], and was ordained to the priesthood. In 1987, he was listed as being the parish priest of St Mary's in Mays Hill during their move from Granville to Merrylands[2]. In 1996, he authored The Eastern Orthodox in Australia, which was published by the Australian Government Publishing Service. By 2000, he had retired from active service in the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese. In 2010, he liturgised at the briefly-established Nowra mission of the Antiochian Archdiocese. He had a long career on ABC Radio[3], and presented at the 1995 SAGOTC Retreat[4].

Rev. Fr. John Shehadie, born 1908, was the second son of Rev. Exarch Nicholas Shehadie to be ordained priest. Part of Bp. Gibran's plans when he came to Australia included the building of a new church in the western suburbs of Sydney, and so, St. Nicholas Church was built in Punchbowl, a suburb once referred to as 'little Lebanon' (in the same way as Redfern was once referred to as 'little Syria'). Fr. John served here from 1973 until his retirement in 1987. Among the Arabic-speaking community, he was usually known as 'Fr. Hanna' (being the abbreviation of his originally-Arabic name)

V. Rev. Fr. Nicolas Mansour was the Exarch of the Church of Antioch for Australia and New Zealand, and was the Rector of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church, and then Dean of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral, 1962-2005.

• Rt. Rev. Archim. Nabil (Kachab), vicar-general of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand, 2005-present.

• V. Rev. Protopresbyter Mitko Machevski, parish priest of St Nicholas Church, Bankstown, 1997-present.

Succession box: Clergy in the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand
Preceded by: Michael Shehadie	V. Rev. Malatius Hussney Exarch of Australia (in Sydney), (Church of Antioch) 1953-1956	Succeeded by: Anthony Woolf
Preceded by: Malatius Hussney, Sr	Archim. Anthony (Woolf) Exarch of Australia (in Sydney), (Church of Antioch) 1957-1961	Succeeded by: Nicolas Mansour
Preceded by: Sydney: Anthony (Woolf) Melbourne: George Haydar	V. Rev. Fr Nicolas Mansour Patriarchal Exarch of Australia and New Zealand (Church of Antioch) 1962-1969	Succeeded by: Gibran (Ramlawey), Patriarchal Vicar

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Succession box: Clergy in the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand
Preceded by: none	V. Rev. Fr Nicolas Mansour Vicar General, Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand 1969-2006	Succeeded by: Nabil (Kachab)

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Melbourne

• Rt. Rev. Fr. Antonious (Mobayed), was representative of the Church of Antioch to the Church of Russia, 1914-1929, and the founding priest of St. Nicholas Church, East Melbourne, 1931-1943.

V. Rev. Fr. George Haydar was a priest who served in Melbourne, Australia, between 1948 and 1962, and also as Exarch of the Church of Antioch from his arrival until the arrival of Fr Malatius Hussney in Sydney.

Succession box: Clergy in the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand
Preceded by: Antonious (Mobayed)	V. Rev. Fr. George Haydar Exarch of Australia, (Church of Antioch) 1948-1953	Succeeded by: Malatius Hussney (Senior)

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Rev. Fr. Malatius (Essam) Hussney was born Essam Hussney, son of Rev. Exarch Malatius Hussney; he was ordained after his father's repose and given the name 'Malatius' in honour of his father. He served at St. Nicholas Church, East Melbourne, between 1968-77, and then served parishes in the USA.

New Zealand

Rev. Hmk. Nicholas (Manovitch) was the founding priest of St Michael Orthodox Church, Dunedin. He appears to have received ordination from a bishop in Canada that was outside the Orthodox Church, then went to New Zealand where he encouraged the Orthodox Syrians to found St Michael's, pastoring it between 1913-16, and went to Australia where he had close ties to the Bolshevik group in Brisbane. He was arrested for extortion, demanding outrageous amounts of money for baptisms and weddings, and disappeared from the religious scene when Fr. Paul Korchinsky came to Australia, at the request of the Russian Imperial Consul-General. He died in 1925 and is buried in Queensland.

Source: V. Rev. Fr. Michael Protopopov, The Russian Orthodox Presence in Australia, p24-35.

• V. Rev. Fr. Jack Witbrock was the Dean of New Zealand, 2003-till his repose in 2012, and the first New Zealander ordained to the priesthood, serving St. Michael's Orthodox Church, Dunedin, 1971-87 and Ss. Simon and Jude, Ashley, from 1987 until his repose.

• V. Rev. Fr. Ilyan Eades was an archpriest in the Deanery of New Zealand and served at St. Michael's Orthodox Church, Dunedin, from 1987 until his repose.

• Rev. Fr. Ian Nield was a priest of the Antiochian Orthodox missionary parish in Wellington, 2003-2013.

Rev. Fr. Michael Elder was a rector of the domestic chapel in Diamond Harbour, New Zealand[5]. Born in the 1920s, he was ordained to the diaconate in the 1990s. At the first New Zealand clergy conference for the Deanery of New Zealand in January 2003, he was ordained to the priesthood, and in 2004 he was awarded the epigonation by Met. Abp. Paul, making him a Confessor[6]. He has also written an article, entitled Byzantine Rite Worship in the Holy Orthodox Catholic Apostolic Church.

Related articles

• Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand
• Gibran (Rimlawi) of Australia and New Zealand
• Paul (Saliba) of Australia and New Zealand