June 27 marks the anniversary of the repose of Metropolitan Theophilus (Pashkovsky) in 1950. He most notably served the North American Metropolia (today, the Orthodox Church in America) as Primate from 1934 to 1950. Young Theodore Pashkovsky had first arrived in America in 1895, and after marriage and ordination in 1897, he served as a priest in San Francisco until 1912. He then returned to Russia. In the turmoil of the Russian Revolution, disease claimed the lives of his wife and one of his daughters. In 1922, he returned to America to begin a new phase of his ecclesial ministry as a bishop.
In the past, some details in the biography of Metropolitan Theophilus have been rendered inaccurately in publications. After thorough research, the Office of History and Archives is posting a new, expanded and more comprehensive biography.
It is notable that at a time when few publications on the Orthodox faith were available in English, Bishop Theophilus published educational materials for the faithful in English. A few pages from two booklets may be seen here:
May we be edified by the life and work of Metropolitan Theophilus and may his memory be eternal!
Pictured below: The three All-American Sobors, presided by Metropolitan Theophilus.
