1,264
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Changes
→2001-present: Warming of Relations
[[Image:Tikhon of Moscow.jpg|right|thumb|St. [[Tikhon of Moscow]]]]'''The ROCOR and the OCA''' have a complicated history of cooperation, rivalry, and sometimes outright hostility. These two [[jurisdiction]]s, the '''[[Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia]] ''' (ROCOR) and the '''[[Orthodox Church in America]] ''' (OCA), both have their origins in the [[Church of Russia]] (a.k.a. the ''Moscow Patriarchate'' or ''MP''), and their histories as clearly distinct and identifiable entities both stem from the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in the early 20th century.
In examining this history, other names are used for the pre-1970 OCA, the ''Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in America'' (its official name) and the ''Metropolia'' (its common name). The ROCOR is also referred to as the ''Karlovtsy Synod'' (from its seminal [[All-Diaspora Councils#I All-Diaspora Council|formations in Serbia]]) or simply ''the Synod'', the ''Russian Orthodox Church Abroad'', or ''ROCA''.{{rocor-oca}}__TOC__==Prologue: Contrasts ==
==Contrasts and Stereotypes=1926-1934: The Way Apart===Numerous stereotypes exist regarding [[Image:Platon Rozhdestvensky.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Metr. [[Platon (Rozhdestvensky) of New York|Platon (Rozhdestvensky)]]]]In 1927, the ROCOR synod deposed Platon and appointed Apollinary to lead the American flock, and he had some success in persuading many parishes to accept his authority, including some 62 parishes in the OCA6 years of his governance until his death in 1933. The ROCOR is monarchist (Russian church in America was generally "white")in a state of desolation and chaos, with many parishes closed, while and 90 percent of the OCA is associated with Russian Communism Russians now 'unchurched'" ("red"Young, p. 35). The OCA is modernistDuring Apollinary's administration in America, but 3 [[auxiliary bishop]]s were consecrated to assist him by the ROCOR is traditionalist. The ROCOR is "Great Russian," while It was during this period that the OCA is "Little Russian." These stereotypes have their origins in parishes which would come to be distinctly defined as the history of Russian Orthodoxy in the West, a history which is complex and often sadROCOR's American representation came to be identified.
===1935-1946: Reintegration===[[Image:Tikhon of MoscowKarlovtsy 1935.jpg|leftright|thumb|St250px|The "Karlovtsy Synod" meeting in Serbia in 1935. [[Tikhon Seated (L to R): Metropolitans Theophilus (then primate of Moscow]]]]the Metropolia) and Anthony, Patriarch StVarnava, Metropolitans Evlogy and Anastasy. Standing: Archbishops Theophan and Germogen, Bishop Dimitri. [[Tikhon of Moscow]]In 1935, who had previously been a bishop in AmericaTheophilus traveled to Serbia and met there with the ROCOR hierarchs, signing with them the "Temporary Regulations of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, issued an ''[[ukase]]'' on [[November 20]]" which divided the ROCOR into four main districts, 1920including North America with Theophilus as its primate. In describing the agreement, declaring Theophilus told his flock in America that "the bishops position of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad has been strengthened by the unity and peace which have been obtained. Now we have only one center of Russia were to see to their own organization until such time as communication with Church administration in the central church administration could be coherently organized againBishops' Synod in... The Karlovci, where the American Metropolitan district [the Metropolia took this as a cue to declare ] will be represented by our elected representative" (quoted in 1924 a state of "temporary self-governmentYoung, p. 36)." From that point until 1970Thus, from the Church point of view of Russia considered the Metropolia to be in [[schism]]ROCOR, and many certainly it would seem from the point of the other Orthodox churches regarded view of Metr. Theophilus, the Metropolia had again been reintegrated as uncanonical and avoided contact with ita component part of the ROCOR.
[[Image:Moreover, Metropolitan THEOPHILUS had traveled to Serbia where, under the leadership Theophilus Pashkovsky.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Metr. [[Theophilus (Pashkovsky) of the Serbian Patriarch, an agreement was signed by the leading hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia San Francisco|Theophilus (ROCORPashkovsky) along with other exiled Russian hierarchs throughout the world forging a peaceful coexistence. Under this agreement]]]]However, on the American Church was to retain her administrative autonomy while maintaining close relations with the ROCOR Synod and being accountable to it only OCA website in matters of faith. The parallel jurisdictions of the Metropolia and ROCOR were thus eliminated and section regarding the four ROCOR hierarchs [[All-American Sobor#Sixth All-American Sobor|6th All-American Sobor]] of 1937 in North America along with their clergy and parishes were integrated into New York, the Metropolia. The vote of the Sixth Sobor on this loose affiliation with claim is made that the ROCOR actually was as follows: 105 for, 9 against, 122 abstentions. The large number made part of abstentions reveals that there was much apprehension on this issue at the council. HoweverMetropolia, confirming a 1935 agreement made in approving Serbia between the matter, Metropolia's primate and the council delegates showed respect and obedience to Metropolitan THEOPHILUS' primatial leadership.[httpROCOR synod://www.oca.org/doc-aas-06-synopsis.asp?SID=8]
:Moreover, Metropolitan THEOPHILUS had traveled to Serbia where, under the leadership of the Serbian Patriarch, an agreement was signed by the leading hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) along with other exiled Russian hierarchs throughout the world forging a peaceful coexistence. Under this agreement, the American Church was to retain her administrative autonomy while maintaining close relations with the ROCOR Synod and being accountable to it only in matters of faith. The parallel jurisdictions of the Metropolia and ROCOR were thus eliminated and the four ROCOR hierarchs in North America along with their clergy and parishes were integrated into the Metropolia. The vote of the Sixth Sobor on this loose affiliation with the ROCOR was as follows: 105 for, 9 against, 122 abstentions. The large number of abstentions reveals that there was much apprehension on this issue at the council. However, in approving the matter, the council delegates showed respect and obedience to Metropolitan THEOPHILUS' primatial leadership.[http://oca.org/history-archives/aacs/the-6th-all-american-sobor]{{orthodoxyinamerica}}The website then goes on to describe this "integration" as merely a "loose associationaffiliation," which seems to contradict the notion that the two bodies were truly integrated, eliminating "parallel jurisdictions" and making the Metropolia accountable to the ROCOR in matters of faith. On another portion of the website, regarding the [[All-American Sobor#Seventh All-American Sobor|7th All-American Sobor ]] in 1946, the relationship then being severed with the ROCOR is described as having been a "temporary arrangement"[http://www.oca.org/dochistory-aasarchives/aacs/the-077th-synopsis.asp?SID=8all-american-sobor].
The nature of the association between the Metropolia and the ROCOR is characterized quite differently by ROCOR writers:
:From 1920-1926 and 1935-1946 they recognized the authority of the bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia; that this is so is almost embarrassingly obvious and true [proof of this recognition of authority can be seen in the list of hierarchs in the Russian Desk Calendar Reference for 1941—see original article for copy of this page from the calendar—PB]. From 1946-1970 they were in effect under no one, for five bishops separated themselves from the ROCOR, but would not recognize the authority of the Moscow Patriarchate, and had absolutely no claim to calling themselves an autocephalous Church. Fully aware of the illegitimacy of their position, in 1971 some prominent theologians of the OCA brokered a deal with the Moscow Patriarchate, one that even the other Patriarchates protested was an uncanonical move.[http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/bookrev_woerl.aspx]
Additionally, there are a number of concrete facts to support this interpretation:
:In 1935 Metr. Theophilus went to Sremsky Karlovits in Yugoslavia at the invitation of the Patriarch of Serbia Barnabas and under his chairmanship an agreement was worked out dividing the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad into four Metropolitan Districts: Eastern European with Metr. Anastassy as the ruling Hierarch, Western European with Metr. Evlogy as ruling Hierarch, North American with Metr. Theophilus as ruling Hierarch, and Far Eastern with Metr. Meletius (in Harbin) as ruling Hierarch... There has long been a debate as to whether Metr. Theophilus subordinated himself and the Metropolia to the Karlovits Synod by this agreement. On the principle that actions speak louder than words, note has to be taken of the fact that Bishops previously under the Exile Synod [in America] accepted the authority of Metr. Theophilus and by the same token Metr. Theophilus was very careful to follow the proper ecclesiastical protocol in asking permission of the Karlovits Synod to give the higher church awards to clergymen as well as in submitting regular reports on the life of the Church in America to Metr. Anastassy and finally in having representation up to World War II in the person of a Hierarch at the regular meetings of the Exile Synod. It is further a matter of fact that at no time did the Exile Synod see fit not to honour any of the requests of Metr. Theophilus (at the same time, in this period, there [was] no acid testing of the arrangement in terms of requesting permission for the consecration of a new bishop) (Surrency, p. 45).
Permission to consecrate a hierarch for the Metropolia was eventually requested from the Synod Abroad, however:
:...in a letter to Metr. Anastassy dated the 22nd of December 1945, permission was asked to consecrate Archimandrite John (Zlobin) as the new Bishop of Alaska. Permission for the consecration was received and it took place on the 10th of March (Orthodoxy Sunday) and the new Bishop promised obedience both to the Metropolia and to the Synod of Bishops Abroad (ibid., pp. 54-44).
In 1946, a planned All-American Sobor of the Metropolia was planned to be held in Cleveland, and a month prior to its being held, a letter was published in the Russian-American Newspaper ''Novoye Russkoye Slovo'' in New York:
:Popularly known as the Letter of the Five Professors, the document analyzed the position of the Metropolia and proposed a course of action. The authors recognized that the difficult position of the Metropolia was determined by two major facts. First, it had broken its ties with the Patriarchate of Moscow in 1933 and was viewed by the mother church as being in schism. Second, the Metropolia had subordinated itself to the Synod Abroad in 1937 (FitzGerald, 66).
The letter went on to encourage a break with the ROCOR, especially because it had allegedly "lost ties with the universal Church" when it moved its headquarters from Serbia to Germany in 1944 (ibid., 67). As such, the Metropolia should part ways with the ROCOR and woo Moscow. The letter goes to on address the question of the nature of the relationship of the Metropolia to the ROCOR:
:Subordinating ourselves to this Synod, our Church (the Metropolia) in substance subordinates itself to a group of bishops who really have no jurisdiction themselves. Because of this, some people are inclined to speak only of our cooperation with the Synod. This term "cooperation," however is not correct because the acts of 1936-1937 definitely subjected our Church under the Synod Abroad (quoted in FitzGerald, p. 67).
The letter turned out to be decisively influential in the coming sobor in Cleveland.
==1946-1970: Open Hostility==
In November of 1946, at the famous Cleveland Sobor (the "7th All-American"), after a call from Moscow for the Metropolia to renew its loyalty, a vote was held which resulted in the Metropolia's separation from the ROCOR and which declared loyalty to the Patriarchate. The voters, comprised of clergy and laity, voted 187 to 61 to reunite with the Patriarchate in the USSR. The pro-ROCOR faction within the Metropolia was understandably furious, as they regarded the Patriarchate as still compromised by the Soviet power.
The history of St. John's Cathedral in Mayfield, Pennsylvania, describes the 1946 severence of ties between the Metropolia and the ROCOR as a split within one body:
:In 1946, at the Cleveland Sobor, the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia indicated that the church headquarters would be moved to New York. A split then occurred in the American Metropolia, and the decision was by approximately half of the bishops to disassociate with the Russian Synod Abroad.[http://www.stjohnsroc.org/History.htm]
The five bishops which refused to submit to the vote at the council—which had not been ratified by a Bishops' Council as protocol dictated, probably because doing so would have ended up with a vote against ratification, as the Council majority was pro-ROCOR—then received a letter from Theophilus indicating their exclusion from the Metropolia. Theophilus then made a semblance of entering into negotiations with Moscow's representative (Metr. Gregory of Leningrad), but whenever Gregory thought he might meet with Theophilus, the latter was strangely unavailable. Subsequently, Theophilus preached a sermon in San Francisco on [[August 7]], 1947, saying of Gregory: "You have probably heard and read that a certain Hierarch has come here. I tell you, beloved brethren, from this holy place that this envoy would greet us in order to violate our way of life, to abolish peace, to bring dissension and discord" (Surrency, p. 57). The rumor was further spread that Gregory was carrying with him some sort of heavy trunk, possibly an atomic bomb (ibid.). In October of that year, Theophilus held a council of his bishops declaring a postponing of "forming... canonical ties of the North American Orthodox Church with the Church and Patriarch of Moscow" and to "continue, as before, maintaining full autonomy in [our] church life as stipulated by the 7th All-American Sobor at Cleveland" (ibid., p. 58). The effect of the events of 1947-48 was to declare autonomy from the ROCOR and to have Moscow believe it was about to receive its North American diocese into its fold again only to be rebuffed without explanation. The Patriarchate subsequently declared the Metropolia again in schism and called the Metropolia bishops to answer before an ecclesiastical court for canonical violations and for declaring an anathema on one of its bishops, [[Makary (Ilyinsky) of New York|Makary (Ilyinsky)]], who had decided to reunite with the Patriarchate. By contrast, in the OCA-sponsored book, [http://www.oca.org/MVorthchristiansnamericaTOC.asp?SID=1 ''Orthodox Christians in North America 1794 - 1994''], the authors state: :Canonically, the jurisdictional system of ethnic churches was never stable. New jurisdictions appeared every decade with disturbing regularity, existing jurisdictions separated from their canonical authorities and joined others. The notable exception was the Metropolia. Forced to declare itself temporarily "self-governing" in 1924 to preserve itself from Communist interference, the irregular status of the Metropolia was tacitly accepted by all Orthodox in America and abroad, with the exception of the Communist-controlled Russian Orthodox Church. [http://www.oca.org/MVorthchristiansnamerica.asp?SID=1&Chap=CH8] Fr. Andrew Philips, an English ROCOR historian, describes the 1946 split in this way, noting with some irony that the very church which refused the Metropolia recognition was the same one which gave it autocephaly:
:After 1917, they first joined together with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. However, eventually after much hesitation, a small number of Russian bishops in North America cut themselves off from the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and formed an independent but uncanonical group, called the Metropolia. In 1970 this group was given autocephaly (independence) by the still enslaved Church in Russia.[http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/ruedaru.htm]
==1970: Autocephaly for the OCA==
Young continues:However "This appeal, this Church had been secretly negotiating with as all the Moscow Patriarchate for a grant of autocephaly. According to others since the deal eventually agreed uponMetropolia's second schism in 1946, went unheeded, although over the patriarchate was to declare the next dozen years a few Metropolia parishes returned to be the autocephalous Orthodox Church of America Abroad" (OCAibid.) in exchange for the Japanese parishes of the Metropolia coming within the jurisdiction of the patriarchate. This deal The negotiations with Moscow had been completed, which was recognized by none of and the other Autocephalous Churches and was Metropolia returned to the advantage, in the long run, only of the patriarchate and the KGB, was made public in December, 1969 – just at the moment that the patriarchate announced that it had entered into partial communion with the Catholics. Thus the former Metropolia found that it had been granted autocephaly by Patriarchate and immediately received a Church that was now in communion with the Catholics.[http://uk[tomos]] of [[autocephaly]] from it.geocities.com/guildfordian2002/History/OrthodoxChurch20thCenturyP3.htm]
[[Image:OCA autocephaly.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Tomos of Autocephaly being received by Bishop [[Theodosius (Lazor) of Washington|Theodosius of Alaska]] (later Metropolitan of the OCA) on behalf of the Metropolia from Metropolitan Pimen, [[locum tenens]] of the Patriarchate of Moscow, [[May 18]], 1970.]]
The ROCOR's 1971 reaction was thus as follows:
:Viewing this illicit act with sorrow, and acknowledging it to be null and void, the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, which has hitherto not abandoned hope for the restoration of ecclesiastical unity in America, sees in the declaration of American autocephaly a step which will lead the American Metropolia yet farther away from the ecclesiastical unity of the Church of Russia. Perceiving therein a great sin against the enslaved and suffering Church of Russia, the Council of Bishops ''DECIDES'': henceforth, neither the clergy nor the laity [of the Russian Church Abroad] are to have communion in prayer or the divine services with the hierarchy or clergy of the American Metropolia.[http://uk.geocities.com/guildfordian2002/History/OrthodoxChurch20thCenturyP3.htm]
In the same year (1971) that the ROCOR issued its rejection of the OCA's autocephaly (1971following similar rejections by all the ancient patriarchates; see ''[[Byzantine response to OCA autocephaly]]''), the OCA took under its jurisdiction a former ROCOR parish in Australia, thus creating another parallel jurisdiction in a nation in which outside the primacy borders of the Greek Orthodox was the historical precedentOCA:
:As a result of a court case between a group of parishioners and the Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCA), four of the Clergy and one parish, as well as groups of parishioners, broke away from ROCA. They applied to the Orthodox Church in America -- then known as the Metropolia -- to be taken under its protection. This was granted immediately.[http://holytrinity-la.org/engl/pages/general/hist4.html#anchor557188]
Thus, the rivalry between the ROCOR and the OCA became ever more strident, and the reception of autocephaly from Moscow by the OCA at the same time came to be seen by many Russians in the [[diaspora]] as a capitulation to the Soviet domination of the Russian Church, expressed, for instance, in these words by the famous writer [[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn]] (newly exiled in the West) in reaction to this act: "How can this be? Out of compassion for those in bondage, instead of knocking the chains off of them, to put them also upon oneself? Out of compassion for slaves, to bend one's own neck in submission beneath the yoke?"[http://gnisios.narod.ru/rocorsobors.html]
As the ROCOR protested the action of the Moscow Patriarchate, the OCA began distributing reports regarding the ROCOR denying that the Metropolia had ever been a part of it, that the ROCOR was "uncanonical," and that it should be avoided by OCA faithful. The OCA was joined in this effort by Abp. [[Iakovos (Coucouzis) of America|Iakovos (Coucouzis)]] of the [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America|Greek Archdiocese]], whose [[ecumenism|ecumenical]] activities in the 1960s and 1970s had seen the departure of some of his scandalized clergy to the Church Abroad, including the whole of [[Holy Transfiguration Monastery (Brookline, Massachusetts)|Holy Transfiguration Monastery]] in Brookline, Massachusetts. Up to that point, the Greek Archdiocese had been in [[full communion]] with the ROCOR.
[[Image:St Basil Simpson.jpg|right|thumb|200px|St. Basil the Great Russian Orthodox Church (Simpson, PA), which has been in the [[Church of Russia|MP]], the [[OCA]], and the [[ROCOR]].]]
==Early 1980s: The OCA Calendar Schism==
In 1982, Bishop [[Herman (Swaiko) of Washington and New York|Herman (Swaiko) of Philadelphia]], the OCA's bishop for Eastern Pennsylvania, decreed that all of his parishes would begin using the [[Revised Julian Calendar]]. Some were already using it, but others had been using the [[Julian Calendar]] steadily up to that point.
As a result of this decree, internal schisms occurred in parishes throughout the diocese, particularly in the OCA heartland of the Wyoming Valley (Scranton and Wilkes-Barre area). St. John's Cathedral in Mayfield broke completely from the OCA (having come to it in 1951 from the ROCOR), and two parishes split into two congregations, creating two new parishes in Old Forge (St. Stephen's, splitting from St. Michael's and building a new church) and Simpson (St. Basil's, keeping its building, while those remaining with the OCA found new worship space). In numerous other parishes, migrations occurred of faithful, segregating themselves according to calendar preference—those preferring the Julian Calendar went with ROCOR, while those choosing the revised calendar stayed with the OCA.
This division further intensified hostile feelings between the OCA and the ROCOR, which was then entering into a phase of providing a haven for disaffected parishes and clergy seeking refuge from "modernist" jurisdictions. Much of that sort of behavior has been ascribed by ROCOR historian Fr. Alexey Young as due ascribes to the influence of [[Holy Transfiguration Monastery (Brookline, Massachusetts)|Holy Transfiguration Monastery]] being incorporated 's incorporation into the Russian Church Abroad.
==2001-present: Warming of Relations==
[[Image:Bishops Peter & and Nikolai.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Bishops [[Peter (Loukianoff) of Cleveland|Peter]] ([[ROCOR]]) and [[Nikolai (Soraich) of Sitka|Nikolai]] ([[OCA]]) greet one another at an OCA episcopal consecration service in May 2005.]]Since After the election of Metropolian Metropolitan [[Laurus (SkurlaŠkurla) of New York]] as First Hierarch of the ROCOR and that body's subsequent ongoing movement towards rapprochement with Moscow, signs have appeared of better relations between the OCA and ROCORbegan to appear. Seminarians studying at OCA seminaries have attended retreats at the ROCOR's [[Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary (Jordanville, New York)|Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary]]in Jordanville, New York, and ROCOR seminarians have also participated in [[OISM]] events at OCA seminaries. The first member of the OCA to study at Holy Trinity Seminary, Vitaly Efimenkov, graduated in 2002. It is also worth noting that several graduates of Holy Trinity Seminary, upon recieving receiving their Bachelor of Theology, went on to recieve receive Masters Degrees from [[St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (Crestwood, New York)|St. Vladimir's Seminary]]. The most recent graduate of both Holy Trinity and St. Vladimir's is [[Andrei Psarev]], instructor of Russian Church History at Holy Trinity. Warmly worded letters from the OCA hierarchy have also been sent to the ROCOR hierarchy.[http://www.oca.org/Docs.asp?ID=49&SID=12] Further, pilgrims from the ROCOR have visited the OCA [[metochion]] in Moscow [http://www.st-catherine.ru/en/news/0118.htm] and Metropolitan Laurus has received representatives of the OCA for informal discussions.[http://www.st-catherine.ru/en/news/0113.htm] Additionally, the OCA's [[chancellor]] and one of its senior priests have attended a banquet at a ROCOR [[clergy]] conference.[http://www.orthodoxnews.netfirms.com/53/OCA%20Chancellor.htm] ===Parishes concelebrate===With the reconciliation of the ROCOR with the Moscow Patriarchate in 2007, the ROCOR and the OCA have resumed full communion and clergy of both jurisdictions have [[concelebration|concelebrated]] in multiple areas; one area of note is Seattle, where clergy and communicants of thirteen area parishes concelebrated within a week of the canonical reunification (see this site [http://www.antiochianladiocese.org/pastevents/2007/washing_rocor.htm] for photos). On November 16, 2009, His Beatitude, [[Jonah (Paffhausen) of Washington|Metropolitan Jonah]] (OCA) hosted His Eminence, [[Hilarion (Kapral) of New York|Metropolitan Hilarion]], (First Hierarch of ROCOR), at the [[Chancery office of the Orthodox Church in America|OCA Chancery]]. The two Metropolitans discussed the initiation of an official dialogue between the Orthodox Church in America and ROCOR and to study ways by which they might strengthen their relationship. During their meeting, the two Metropolitans concelebrated a Memorial Litiya for His Holiness, [[Pavel (Stojcevic) of Serbia|Patriarch Pavle of Serbia]], who fell asleep in the Lord on Sunday, November 15, 2009. This marked the first time that the Metropolitans of the OCA and ROCOR have served together since the mid-1930s. On October 5, 2010, a two day meeting of the members of the Joint Commission of the Orthodox Church in America and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia opened at Saint Seraphim Church (ROCOR) in Sea Cliff NY. The Joint Commission met as a result of the directives of the OCA and ROCOR hierarchs to "discuss and resolve issues that have in the past stood in the way of full Eucharistic communion and to come to an understanding of how we can pray and work together in the future, said Archpriest Eric G. Tosi, OCA Secretary." OCA representatives included His Grace, Bishop [[Tikhon (Mollard) of Philadelphia|Tikhon of Philadelphia]] and Eastern Pennsylvania; Archpriests Alexander Garklavs, Leonid Kishkovsky and John Erickson; and Igumen Alexander (Pihach). Mr. Alexis Liberovsky served as a consultant. ROCOR representatives included His Grace, Bishop [[George (Schaefer) of Mayfield|George of Mayfield]]; Archimandrite [[Luke (Murianka)]]; Archpriests Alexander Lebedeff and David Moser; and Priest Peter Jackson. Archpriest Seraphim Gan, ROCOR Chancellor, also was to be present.===Hierarchs of the OCA and ROCOR concelebrate===On Saturday, December 10, 2011, at the Synodal Cathedral of the Sign, New York, NY, His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, and His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, concelebrated the Divine Liturgy for the first time. This was the first time in nearly 70 years that the primates and hierarchs of the OCA and ROCOR have concelebrated. Concelebrating with the Metropolitans was His Eminence, Archbishop [[Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Naro-Fominsk|Justinian of Naro-Fominsk]], Administrator of the [[Russian Orthodox Church in the USA|Patriarchal Parishes in the USA]].
==Timeline of Parish and Monastery Transfers==
Throughout the mutual history of the ROCOR and the OCA, especially since the split in 1946, numerous communities have changed hands back and forth between the two bodies, usually following a dispute between the community and its bishop. Typically, not all parishioners switched jurisdictions together, and transfers usually were accompanied by a parish split, whether just a few individuals or a major portion of the parish. Below is a chart listing many of these transfers.
{| border="1" class="toccolours" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="clear:right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; font-size:95%; text-align:left; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| colspan="4" style="text-align:center; font-size:150%;" | ROCOR & OCA Parish Community Transfers
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
| '''Year'''
| '''ParishCommunity'''
| '''From'''
| '''To'''
| OCA
| ROCOR
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
| 1976
| Bp. [[Kyrill (Yonchev) of Pittsburgh|Kyrill]] and the [[Bulgarian Diocese in Exile|Bulgarian Diocese]]:<br>
*St. Nicholas Church (Fort Wayne, IN)
*St. Nicholas Church (Burton, MI)
*St. Paul Cathedral (Dearborn Heights, MI)
*St. Elia the Prophet Church (Akron, OH)
*Ss. Cyril and Methodius Church (Lorain, OH)
*St. George Cathedral (Rossford, OH)
*Holy Ghost Church (Youngstown, OH)
*St. John Rilski Church (Niagara Falls, ON)
*St. George Church (Toronto, ON)
| ROCOR
| OCA
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
| 1977
| 1982
| St. Stephen (Old Forge, PA)
| OCA
| ROCOR
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
| 1994
| [[All-Merciful Saviour Monastery (Vashon Island, Washington)|Monastery of the All Merciful Savior (Vashon Island, WA)]]
| OCA
| ROCOR
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
| 1997
| [[Monastery of the Glorious Ascension (Resaca, Georgia)| Monastery of the Glorious Ascension (Resaca, GA) ]]
| OCA
| ROCOR
|}
==Sources==
*Bogolepov, Alexander A. ''Toward an American Orthodox Church: The Establishment of an Autocephalous Orthodox Church''. Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2001.
*Budzilovich, P.N. [http://gnisios.narod.ru/rocorsobors.html A Summary-View of the Three Previous ROCA Sobors], 2000
*FitzGerald, Thomas E. ''The Orthodox Church''. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1998.
*Lebedeff, Fr. Alexander. [http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/general/amer_jur.aspx Orthodox Jurisdictions in America]
*Liberovsky, Alexis. [http://oca.org/history-archives/aacs/the-4th-all-american-sobor Synopsis of the 4th All-American Sobor] (1924)
*Liberovsky, Alexis. [http://oca.org/history-archives/aacs/the-5th-all-american-sobor Synopsis of the 5th All-American Sobor] (1934)
*Liberovsky, Alexis. [http://oca.org/history-archives/aacs/the-6th-all-american-sobor Synopsis of the 6th All-American Sobor] (1937)
*Liberovsky, Alexis. [http://oca.org/history-archives/aacs/the-7th-all-american-sobor Synopsis of the 7th All-American Sobor] (1946)
*Liberovsky, Alexis. [http://oca.org/history-archives/aacs/the-5th-all-american-council Synopsis of the 5th All-American Council] (1977)
*Matusiak, Fr. John. [http://oca.org/questions/namerica/russian-orthodox-church-in-america Q&A: Russian Orthodox Church in America]
*Maximovitch, St. John. [http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/roca_history.aspx History of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad] (from ''The Orthodox Word'', 1971)
*[[Andrew Phillips|Phillips, Fr. Andrew]]. [http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/ruedaru.htm The Last Days of Rue Daru?], 2005
*Rodzianko, M. [http://www.monasterypress.com/anonftp/pub/Rocatruth.pdf ''The Truth About the Russian Church Abroad''], 1954 (tr. 1975)
*Stokoe, Mark and Kishkovsky, Fr. Leonid. [http://oca.org/history-archives/orthodox-christians-na ''Orthodox Christians in North America 1794 - 1994'']
*Surrency, Archim. Serafim. ''The Quest for Orthodox Church Unity in America'', 1973
*Woerl, Michael. [http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/bookrev_woerl.aspx Book Review: A History of the Orthodox Church in America (1917-1934)]
*Young, Fr. Alexey. ''The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia: A History and Chronology'', 1993
===Parish histories===
* [http://www.stjohnsroc.org/History.htm History of Saint John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cathedral] (Mayfield, PA)
*[http://holytrinity-la.org/engl/pages/general/hist4.html History of the Holy Orthodox Church: Part IV - Orthodoxy in Australia], [http://holytrinity-la.org/ Holy Trinity Romanian Orthodox Church] (Los Angeles, CA)
==External links==
===ROCOR===
*[http://www.monasterypress.com/anonftp/pub/Rocatruth.pdf The Truth About the Russian Church Abroad], by M. Rodzianko
*[http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/bookrev_woerl.aspx Book Review: A History of the Orthodox Church in America (1917-1934)], a ROCOR layman critiques a history by an OCA bishop
*[http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/general/amer_jur.aspx Orthodox Jurisdictions in America], by Fr. Alexander Lebedeff
*[http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/english/pages/history/briefhistory.html A Brief History of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, 1922-1972], by Protopriest Sergii Shchukin
*[http://www.synod.com/synod/eng2011/20111212_ensynod.html backround] Statement by the Synod of Bishops, NEW YORK: December 10, 2011
[[Category:Church History]]
[[Category:Featured Articles]]
[[Category:Jurisdictions]]
[[ro:ROCOR şi OCA]]