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.
• Consistory of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Australia and New Zealand (under Constantinople), with 10 parishes and missions in Melbourne, Geelong, Newborough, Sydney, Schofields, Canberra, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth (in addition to one in Auckland, New Zealand).

With an irregular status

• Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Australia - Kyivan Patriarchate: The Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Australia of the Kyivan Patriarchate is an integral part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Kyivan Patriarchate under the protection (omophor) of His Holiness Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus-Ukraine Filaret. It represents parishes and believers who have stayed within the National Mother Church (Pomisna Cerkva) of Ukraine. It also consists of a Parishes under the Greek Exarchate of the Kyivan Patriarchate in Australia. Parishes exist in Sydney, Newcastle, Adelaide & Brisbane. The Supreme Authority of the Church is the Holy Synod, with its permanent President the Patriarch himself. The Patriarchate has the support of over 30 million faithful in Ukraine. (In comparison The Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine has the support of approximately 5 million faithful in Ukraine). In recent public news polls in Kyiv showed that over 77% of those asked were supporters of The Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyivan Patriarchate and only 8% aligned themselves with The Moscow Patriarchate. Although this entity is not in full communion with any of the mainstream Orthodox Churches, in April 2018 an official petition of the Ukrainian Government and the Kyiv Patriarchate with the UAOC was forwarded to the Ecumenical Patriarchate which was accepted to be examined with possible Autocephaly to be granted in the near future.
• Macedonian Orthodox Diocese of Australia and New Zealand: As part of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. This entity is not in communion with any of the mainstream Orthodox Churches.
• Autocephalic Greek Orthodox Church of America and Australia: Formed out of a schism with the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia with the Greek Orthodox Community of South Australia (GOCSA). This entity is not in communion with any of the mainstream Orthodox Churches. The parishes affiliated with the 'Greek Orthodox Communities of South Australia' (GOCSA) are in this church.
• Holy Orthodox Metropolis of Australia & Oceania (Serapheimite): Originally parishes who went into schism from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia. This entity currently contains only one Parish in Australia - The Greek Orthodox Community Church of St Spyridon Clayton. This entity is not in communion with any of the mainstream Orthodox Churches.
• Holy Synod in Resistance - Diocese of Sydney and New South Wales: This entity, under Metropolitan Cyprian of Oropos and Fili, is not in communion with any of the mainstream Orthodox Churches. Previously headed by His Eminence Chrysostomos, Bishop of Sydney and New South Wales & Exarch of Australia, the current locum tenens is Bp Ambrose of Methone, and consists of four parishes and one monastery. This entity is not in communion with any of the mainstream Orthodox Churches.
• Church of the Genuine Orthodox Christians of Greece: This entity has one mission in Australia - a 'metochion' under Bp Photios of Marathon. This entity is not in communion with any of the mainstream Orthodox Churches.

Previously in Australia

• Orthodox Church in America - Parishes in Australia.
• Polish Orthodox Church in Australia.
• Church of Jerusalem.

People

Current Hierarchs

• 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.
• His Eminence Paul, Metropolitan Archbishop of Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines (Antiochian Orthodox).
• His Eminence Hilarion, Archbishop of Sydney, Australia and New Zealand, Metropolitan and First Hierarch of ROCOR.
  • His Grace George, vicar bishop to Metropolitan Hilarion in Australia and New Zealand.
• His Grace Siluan, Bishop of Australia and New Zealand (Serbian Orthodox).
• His Grace Mihail, Bishop of Australia and New Zealand (Romanian Orthodox)

Other major figures

• Archbishop Anthony (Medvedev) of San Francisco, formerly bishop of Melbourne in the 1950s-1960s.
• Archbishop Gabriel (Chemodakov) of Montreal, former Bishop of Brisbane and first Australian-born bishop.
• Bishop Nektarios (Kellis) of Madagascar, former priest at the Holy Monastery of St Nektarios, Adelaide; then missionary to Madagascar, and first bishop thereof.
• Bishop John (Bērziņš) of Caracas, second 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, founding 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 head of the Diocese of 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.
• Igumen Dimitry (Obuhoff), founding superior of St John the Baptist Skete.
• Igumen Joachim (Ross), superior of St. John the Baptist Skete.
• Monk 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

• Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of Australia and New Zealand (Official Website)
• Russian Orthodox Diocese of Australia and New Zealand (Official Website)
• Serbian Orthodox Church in Australia and New Zealand (Official Website)
• List and map of all Orthodox Parishes in Australia
• 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)
• Greek Orthodoxy in Australia, by Anastasios M. Tamis (PDF)