Orthodoxy in Australia

From the first Divine Liturgy celebrated at Kirribilli Point (Sydney) in 1820, the first Exarch in 1913, and Australia and New Zealand's first bishop in 1924, right to the present day, Orthodoxy in Australia has a short history that is extremely undocumented and, therefore, largely unseen.

This article seeks to be a clearinghouse of information and links regarding the history and state of Orthodox Christianity in Australia.

History

• Timeline of Orthodoxy in Australia
• Statistics of Orthodoxy in Australia
• History of Antiochian Orthodoxy in Australasia

Jurisdictions

With Local Bishop

• Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
• Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand
• Diocese of Australia and New Zealand - Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
• Serbian Orthodox Church - Metropolitanate of Australia and New Zealand
• Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of Australia and New Zealand.

Without Local Bishop

• Moscow Patriarchate in Australia; with parishes in Sydney and Melbourne.
• Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Diocese of the USA, Canada and Australia. There is one parish in Sydney, one in Melbourne and one in Adelaide.
• Polish Orthodox Church in Australia - began at 1971 schism in ROCOR.

With an irregular status

• Macedonian Orthodox Diocese of Australia and New Zealand: As part of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, this diocese is not in full communion with any of the mainstream Orthodox Churches. This diocese is headed by His Grace Petar, Metropolitan of Australia and New Zealand.
• Greek Orthodox Church of America and Australia: Formed out of a schism with the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia; this diocese is not in communion with any of the mainstream Orthodox Churches. This diocese is headed by Bishop Paul of Christianoupolis, and centred mostly in South Australia.
• Holy Synod in Resistance - Diocese of Sydney and New South Wales: This diocese, under Metropolitan Cyprian of Oropos and Fili, is Old Calendarist, and therefore not in communion with any of the mainstream Orthodox Churches. This diocese is headed by His Eminence Chrysostomos, Bishop of Sydney and New South Wales, Exarch of Australia, and consists of two parishes.

Previously in Australia

• Orthodox Church in America - Parishes in Australia.

People

Current Hierarchs

• His Eminence Hilarion, Archbishop of Sydney, Australia and New Zealand, Metropolitan, and First Hierarch of ROCOR.
• His Grace Irinej, Bishop of Australia and New Zealand (Serbian Orthodox).
• His Grace Mihail, Bishop of Australia and New Zealand (Romanian Orthodox)
• His Eminence Paul, Metropolitan Archbishop of Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines (Antiochian Orthodox).
• His Eminence Stylianos, Archbishop of Australia (Greek Orthodox).
  • His Grace Ezekiel (Kefalas) of Dervis, auxiliary bishop to Archbishop Stylianos in Melbourne, Victoria.
  • His Grace Seraphim (Ginis) of Apollonias, auxiliary bishop to Archbishop Stylianos in Sydney, NSW.
  • His Grace Nikandros (Palyvos) of Dorileou, auxiliary bishop to Archbishop Stylianos in Adelaide, SA, Darwin, NT, and for Perth, WA.
  • His Grace Iakovos (Tsigounis) of Miletoupolis, auxiliary bishop to Archbishop Stylianos in Melbourne, Victoria.

Other major figures

• Archbishop Anthony (Medvedev) of San Francisco, formerly bishop of Melbourne in the 1950s-1960s.
• Bishop Nektarios (Kellis) of Madagascar, former priest at the Holy Monastery of St Nektarios, Adelaide; then missionary to Madagascar, and first bishop thereof.
• Bishop Gabriel (Chemodakov) of Montreal, former Bishop of Brisbane and first Australian-born bishop.
• Archimandrite Antonious (Mobayed), exarch of the Church of Antioch to the Church of Russia, then first parish priest and exarch in Melbourne, Australia.
• Archimandrite Nabil (Kachab), Vicar-General of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand since 2003.
• Archimandrite Stephanos (Pantanassiotis), former Vicar-General of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, current abbot of the Holy Monastery of Pantanassa.
• Archimandrite Themistocles (Adamopoulo), former lecturer at St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College, then vice-dean of the Orthodox Patriarchal School in Kenya and now missionary in Sierra Leone.
• V. Rev. Fr Michael Shehadie, second exarch of the Church of Antioch in Sydney.
• V. Rev. Protopresbyter Mitko Machevski, parish priest of St Nicholas Orthodox Church, Bankstown.
• V. Rev. Fr Nicholas Shehadie, first exarch in Australia of the Church of Antioch.
• Rev. Fr Dimitri Tsakas, Archdiocesan Vicar-General of the Fourth Archdiocesan District of Queensland and New Guinea, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia.
• Hmk. Dimitry (Obuhoff), founding superior of St John the Baptist Skete.
• Hmk. Joachim (Ross), superior of St. John the Baptist Skete.
• Fr Guri (Demidov), hermit-monk at St. John the Baptist Skete.
• Other Clergy in the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand, including three exarchs (Frs Malatius Hussney, Anthony Woolf and Nicolas Mansour), Fr Stephen Godley (co-author of The Eastern Orthodox in Australia, Fr Nicholas Manovitch (first priest in New Zealand, served in Queensland) and two other parish priests (Frs John Shehadie and Malatius (Essam) Hussney).

(Only major figures with articles are listed)

Organizations and Institutions

Pan-Jurisdictional

• Eastern Hierarchs
• Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Churches in Australia

Lists

• Monasteries in Australia
• Parishes in Australia with English as a liturgical language
• Parishes in Australasia celebrating the Western Rite
• Complete list of bishops in Australasia, past and present (includes auxiliary bishops).

Parishes in Australasia and Oceania

States and Territories of Australia Australian Capital Territory | New South Wales | Northern Territory | Queensland | South Australia | Tasmania | Victoria | Western Australia Islands and Territories of New Zealand North Island | South Island | Stewart Island | Tokelau Countries in Melanesia East Timor | Fiji | New Caledonia | Papua New Guinea | Solomon Islands | Vanuatu Countries in Micronesia Guam | Kiribati | Marshall Islands | Federated States of Micronesia | Nauru | Northern Mariana Islands | Palau Countries in Polynesia American Samoa | Cook Islands | French Polynesia | Niue | Pitcairn | Samoa | Tonga | Tuvalu | Wallis and Futuna Islands

External links

• Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand (Official Website)
• Bulgarian Orthodox Diocese of the USA, Canada, and Australia (Official Website)
• Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia (Official Website)

• Fifth Archdiocesan District of Western Australia

• Serbian Orthodox Church in Australia and New Zealand (Official Website)
• Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of Australia and New Zealand (Official Website)
• Russian Orthodox Diocese of Australia and New Zealand (Official Website)

• • The Russian Orthodox Presence in Australia: The History of a Church told from recently opened archives and previously unpublished sources, by Fr. Michael Protopopov (PDF)