15
edits
Changes
Updated info on the Russian Orthodox Diocese of the Philippines with external links.
This article seeks to be a clearinghouse of information and links regarding the history and state of '''[[Orthodox Christianity]] in the Philippines'''. The current Orthodox presence in the Philippines is minimal. However, early in the 20th century a small Russian parish served émigrés in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. The presence of this Russian parish ceased to exist after the Second World War. Another Orthodox parish under the [[jurisdiction]] of the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate]] was founded in Manila during the early 1990s.
== Arrival of Orthodoxy ==
===1600s - Armenian and Greek Orthodox Christians===
One source suggests that the Armenians, Greeks and Mecedonians were the first Orthodox Christians on the island. An eighteenth century document written by Murillo Velarde, a Jesuit historian describing their Order’s missionary labors in the Philippines, records the presence of Armenian and Greek settlers in the Philippine capital city of Manila as early as 1618. [http://merlot.umdl.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=philamer;cc=philamer;q1=morenos;rgn=full%20text;idno=afk2830.0001.044;didno=AFK2830.0001.044;view=image;seq=31;page=root;size=s;frm=frameset;] (Blair & Robertson's The Philippine Islands 1493-1898, Cleveland, Ohio: 1906, Vol. XLIV, p. 27).
== Orthodoxy in the Philippines =1930s - Russian Orthodox Christians===Orthodoxy arrived [[Image:John Maximovitch Tubabao.jpg|right|thumb|Abp. John Maximovitch in the Philippines during the American colonial regime due to the Tubabao]]An influx of Russian emigrees émigrés fleeing the Soviet regime occurred during the American colonial regime. In 1935, a Russian [[parish]] was established in Manila, and the [[Patriarch]] of Moscow and All Russia appointed Father Mikhail Yerokhin as vicar. The Episcopal Church then permitted Fr. Mikhail to use the north transept of their cathedral for worship. In 1937, the first Orthodox church was built and was named after the Iberian Iveron [[Icon]] of the Mother of God. This also became the first Orthodox [[altar]] in the Philippines. Later, both the Episcopal Cathedral and the Russian Orthodox church in Manila were destroyed by American bombing during the Second World War. [[Image:John Maximovitch Tubabao.jpg|left|thumb|Abp. John Maximovitch in Tubabao]]
Tubabao, however, was (and still is) an underdeveloped island which is humid, prone to typhoons, and at times inaccessible due to the ocean conditions. When a Russian commented on their fear that a typhoon would destroy their camp to local Filipinos, they replied that there was nothing to worry about because “your "your holy man blesses your camp from four directions every night.” " There were no typhoons or floods while Abp. John was therethe Russian refugees sheltered at Tubabao.
==Orthodoxy in the Philippines Today= 1990s - Filipino Orthodox Christians===There are Around the beginning of the twentieth century, Greek sailors settled in Legaspi city on the island of Luzon. Descendants of these Greek Orthodox Christian sailors now number no more than 10 families, who have kept their Greek surnames and many groups today of whom have become distinguished public figures and intellectuals in the Philippines that claim to be Eastern Orthodox or [[Oriental Orthodox]] churches; however, including serving as the Greek consulate in Manila. Though they all lack [[apostolic succession]] and do not adhere to speak the Filipino language fluently, they were largely responsible for the traditions re-establishment of an Orthodox presence in the Philippines through their encouragement of Filipino converts and [[canon law|canons]] of either churchthe Hellenic Orthodox Foundation.
[[Image:Manila_orthodox_cathedral.jpg|left|thumb|The Annunciation Orthodox Cathedral in Paranaque, Manila]]One of the first Greek Orthodox to arrive in the Philippines Philippine province of Albay was Alexandros Athos Adamopoulos (aka Alexander A. Adamson), who came to Legaspi city in 1928. Together with his brother and cousin he co-founded Adamson University in 1932. In 1989 Alexander Adamson saw , which is now owned by the need to establish Vincentian Fathers of the first true Greek Orthodox church in the Philippines and thus established the Hellenic Orthodox Foundation IncRoman Catholic Church.. Although he died in 1993 before the church was completed, the Orthodox Cathedral Adamopoulos was finished in 1996 and is constructed appointed in 1942 by the true byzantium style with all the interior furnishings imported from Greece and is home Greek government to approximately 200 orthodox take charge of Greek interests in the Philippines. This Cathedral He was consecrated by later promoted to the Ecumenical Patriarch on March 5, 2000. The only true Orthodox parish in Manila is under the Ecumenical Patriarchate rank of Consul General of Constantinople which is spiritually administered by a [[priest]] from Greece.
In 1989, Adamopoulos saw the need to establish the first true Greek Orthodox church in the Philippines and thus established the Hellenic Orthodox Foundation Inc. Although he died in 1993 before the church was completed, the Orthodox Cathedral was finished in 1996 and is constructed in true Byzantine style, with all the interior furnishings imported from Greece, and is home to approximately 520 Filipino Orthodox and 40 expats[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exarchate_of_the_Philippines]in Metro Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. This cathedral was consecrated by His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on March 5, 2000. On April 20, 1990, a Filipino [[hieromonk]], Fr. Vincentius Escarcha (a former Benedictine Abbot and a Roman Catholic priest for more than 20 years in Bajada, Cataingan, Masbate island), together with four nuns and faithful members of his community, were received into the Orthodox Church by Metropolitan [[Dionysios (Psiahas) of Proussa|Dionysios]] of the [[Greek Orthodox Metropolis of New Zealand]] and assisted by [[Sotirios (Trambas) of Korea|Bishop Sotirios of Zelon]]. On January 19, 1994, Metropolitan Dionysios, assisted by Bishop Sotirios, received by [[Chrismation|Holy Chrismation]] several Filipino Christians in Manila. In 1996, the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia was created for the needs of the faithful under the [[Church of Constantinople]]. In 2004, the Theotokos Orthodox Church in Bajada, Masbate was consecrated by His Eminence Metropolitan [[Nikitas (Lulias) of Hong Kong|Nikitas]] of Hong Kong and South East Asia. At present, the nuns of the Theotokos Orthodox Monastery in Bajada run a kindergarten. ==LinksOrthodoxy in the Philippines today==*[[Image:Filipinorthodox.jpg|left|Filipino Orthodox faithful in Paranaque, Manila]]Within the Ecumenical Patriarchate's [[Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia]], there are currently three Filipino Orthodox priests in the Philippines, along with four nuns, and are administratively under an ecclesiastical vicar from Greece. In these communities, the Divine Liturgy and other Orthodox worship services are said in English, Greek and Filipino. In 2007 the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Mission in the Philippines[http://orthodoxen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiochian_Orthodox_Christian_Mission_in_the_Philippines], was established under the [[Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand]]. In 2008, two Filipino denominations were received into the Antiochian church, including 32 communities with some 6000 believers. These denominations - one ex-protestant, led by Fr Jeptah Aniceto, and one ex-independent, led by Fr Pascualito Monsanto -communitiesformed two vicariates, based in Davao and Manila respectively. In 2009 Jeptah Aniceto [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiochian_Orthodox_Christian_Mission_in_the_Philippines left the Orthodox Church] to pursue native religious teaching in Africa, and now [https://www.facebook.com/BangsaLumad identifies as a Muslim]. Many of his followers left the Antiochian Church; some connected with an [[Old Calendarist]] group under Bishop Kleopas (Daclan). In 2013, clergy from both ROCOR and the Moscow Patriarchate responded to requests from Filipino groups for catechism. Two dioceses of the [http://www.ifi.ph/ Iglesia Filipina Independiente ("Aglipayans"] entered into a period of catechism, and beginning in 2015 several parishes were received in mass baptisms[http://orthochristian.com/82584.blogspothtml][http://orthochristian.com/200781728.html]. In 2017 a hieromonk was sent from Russia to reestablish the parish of the Iveron Icon of the Theotokos, originally established in 1935 but destroyed by bombing during World War II. In February, 2019, a [http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/5379588.html Diocese of the Philippines] was established within the Russian Orthodox [http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/5330863.html Patriarchal Exarchate of Southeast Asia]. [https://philippine-mission.org/04about/orthodoxclergy-of-the-philippine-diocese/ Eight priests] now serve the Russian mission which now numbers approximately thirty parishes and mission communities. There are also some [[Independent Orthodox churches|independent groups]] in the Philippines that use the term ''Orthodox'' in their names but are not in communion with or are recognized by any canonical Orthodox church. ==See also==* [[Exarchate of the Philippines|Exarchate of the Philippines, Ecumenical Patriarchate]]* [[Philemon (Castro)]] ==External links== *[http://www.facebook.com/pages/Orthodox-Church-in-philippinesthe-Philippines/187805037902231 Affiliate in the Philippines - Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and South East Asia]*[http://filorthodoxia.googlepages.com/church.htm History of the First Filipino Orthodox Community in the Philippines] by Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis*[http://www.orthodoxnews.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=WorldNews.one&content_id=7354&CFID=29993857&CFTOKEN=90155693 Ecumenical Patriarch Consecrates Annunciation Church in Manila]*[http://www.orthodox.cn/news/20000420philippines_en.htm Orthodox Patriarch Visits Fledgling Local Orthodox Church]*[http://www.cs.ust.hk/faculty/dimitris/metro/AUG03.pdf The Theotokos Orthodox Church & Monastery in Masbate] (Information in an issue of The Censer)*[http://www.cs.ust.hk/faculty/dimitris/metro/Phil_major_events.html Major Events of Orthodoxy in the Philippines] *[http://www.cs.ust.hk/faculty/dimitris/metro/Phil_history.html A priest's description of Orthodox Communities missionary work in the Philippines]
*[http://www.rocor.org.au/lives/stjohnsanfranciscoshanghai Life of St. John Maximovitch]
*[http://www2.mfa.gr/www.mfa.gr/Articles/en-US/03042007_KL1949.htm The Greek Community in the Philippines]*[http://www.hri.org/forum/life/adamson.html Greeks in the Philippinesand their contributions to the Filipinos]*[http://wwwquod.cslib.ustumich.hkedu/facultycgi/dimitrist/metrotext/Phil_historytext-idx?c=philamer;idno=AFK2830.0001.044 The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 by Emma E.html Blair & James A priest's description . Robertson, Volume XLIV, 1906] Online edition from the University of missionary work in the Philippines]Michigan.*[httphttps://wwwphilippine-mission.exarchate.uni.ccorg/ The Annunciation Philippine Mission of the Theotokos Russian Orthodox CathedralChurch] {{Parishes of South, East, and Southeast Asia}}
[[Category:Jurisdictions]]