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Orthodoxy in the Philippines

1,034 bytes added, 09:51, October 2, 2017
Corrected Jeptah Aniceto (now Muslim) and added a new, hopefully non-inflammatory paragraph about the Russian mission.
===1930s - Russian Orthodox Christians===
[[Image:John Maximovitch Tubabao.jpg|right|thumb|Abp. John Maximovitch in Tubabao]]An influx of Russian emigrees 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.
In 1949, 5,500 Russian Orthodox from China, including then-[[Archbishop]] [[John Maximovitch]], were relocated to Tubabao in the south central Philippines by the International Refugee Organization and with the permission of the newly independent Republic of the Philippines. Abp. John Maximovitch then established a wooden church, orphanage, and other buildings in Tubabao exclusively for the Russian refugees.
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.
[[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://en.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 Monsato Monsanto - formed two vicariates, based in Davao and Manila respectively. In late 2009, the Davao Vicariate Jeptah Aniceto [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiochian_Orthodox_Christian_Mission_in_the_Philippines left the Antiochian Archdiocese Church] to pursue native religious teaching in Africa, and joined now [[ROCORhttps://www.facebook.com/BangsaLumad identifies as a Muslim]] as . Many of his followers left the Antiochian Church; some connected with an [[Western RiteOld Calendarist]] parishes group under Bishop Kleopas (Daclan).  In 2013, clergy from both ROCOR and the Moscow Patriarchate responded to requests from Filipino groups for catechism and baptism. Two dioceses of the [http://www.ifi.ph/ Iglesia Filipina Independiente ("Aglipayans"] entered into a period of catechism, and beginning in 2015 many parishes were received in mass baptisms[http://orthochristian.com/82584.html][Michael (Mansbridge-Wood)|St Petroc Monastery Mission Societyhttp://orthochristian.com/81728.html]. In 2017 a hieromonk was sent from Russia to reestablish the parish of the Iveron Icon of the Theotokos, destroyed in 1945. On July 17, 2017, mission clergy and leaders were commissioned by Archbishop Sergiy of Solnechnogorsk, chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate in East and South Asia. [https://mospat.ru/en/2017/06/22/news147798/])The Russian mission now numbers approximately twenty parishes and mission communities, mostly in Mindanao.
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.
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