'''Aftimios Ofiesh''' (1880-1966, né Abdullah Aftimios Ofiesh, names sometimes spelled variously as "Oftimios," "Ofeish," or "Ofiesch") was an early 20th century Orthodox [[bishop]] in America, serving as the immediate successor to St. [[Raphael of Brooklyn]] under the auspices of the [[Church of Russia]]. He held the title ''Bishop of Brooklyn'' from 1917 until April of 1933, when he married, thus [[deposition|deposing ]] himself from the episcopacy. He is perhaps best known in our day as being the source of numerous lines of succession of ''[[episcopi vagantes]]'' and led the [[American Orthodox Catholic Church]] for most of its existence. He died in 1966.

Following the untimely death of St. [[Raphael of Brooklyn]] in 1915, [[Archimandrite ]] Aftimios (Ofiesh) was elected to serve as his replacement in caring for the Arab Orthodox faithful in America under the [[Church of Russia]]'s canonical authority. He was consecrated by Archbishop [[Evdokim (Meschersky) of the Aleutians|Evdokim (Meschersky)]] as an [[auxiliary bishop]] in 1917 with the title of ''Bishop of Brooklyn''. In 1923, in recognition for his work in America, he was elevated by Metropolitan [[Platon (Rozhdestvensky) of New York]] to the rank of [[archbishop]].

title=Archbishop of Brooklyn<br>([[OCA|Metropolia]])|

*Ofiesh, Mariam Namey . ''Archbishop Aftimios Ofiesh (1880-1966): A Biography Revealing His Contribution to Orthodoxy and Christendom''. Sun City West, AZ: Abihider Co., 1999. (ISBN 0966090810)

The book by Aftimios's widow, while including a great deal of historical information, is not mainly a scholarly work but is rather a biography aimed toward the exhoneration exoneration of her late husband. One of its primary themes throughout is that Aftimios's marriage to Mariam was justified and that the canonical tradition of celibacy for Orthodox bishops is "man-made" and should be abolished.

*[http://www.geocities.com/theocacna/ American Orthodox Catholic Church], a.k.a. "The Holy Eastern Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church in North America (THEOCACNA)" "American Orthodox Patriarchate" (other websites: [http://www.theocacna.org/ theocacna.org],[http://www.theocacna.us/ theocacna.us])*[http://www.apostle1.com/ American Orthodox Church], a.k.a. "North American Orthodox Church," "Western Orthodox Church of America," "Orthodox Catholic Church of the Americas," "American Orthodox Catholic Church" (not affiliated with THEOCACNA; operated by convicted pedophile and registered sexual offender Alan Stanford [http://www.pokrov.org/display.asp?ds=Convicted&id=41], [http://ind-movement.org/people_st_sz.html])*[http://www.americanorthodoxchurch.com org The American Orthodox Church] affiliated with the (also [http://www.athonitebenedictinefathers.info Athonite Benedictine Monks :*Fathers] and [http://www.americanorthodoxchurchukrainianorthodoxcatholicchurch.com/tradition.html The Ukrainian Orthodox Catholic Church]) affiliated with the Athonite Benedictine Fathers]Monks:*[http://netministrieswww.org/see/churchesathonitebenedictinefathers.execom/ch26884 The Athonite Benedictine Monks of Deming, NMFathers] *[http://www.taac.us/ The Ancient Apostolic Communion] (TAAC), formerly [http://www.coccsynod.us/ The Coptic Orthodox Catholic Church] (COCC)[http://www.taac.us/index.php/?title=Why_we_are_no_longer_Coptic][http://tasbeha.org/content/community/index.php?board=12;action=display;threadid=2606]