John (Ivan) Bekish was born on October 2, 1892 in Międzyrzec; Lublin Province of the Russian Empire, in what is today southeast Poland. In 1914, he graduated from the Kholm Seminary and then served as a parish reader for some two years. On May 11, 1916, he married Ksenia Sokal, who was a teacher in Warsaw and the daughter of a deacon. He was ordained to the diaconate at the Theophany Monastery in Moscow on July 30, 1916 by Bishop Seraphim of Bielsk, auxiliary of the Kholm diocese, who also ordained him to the priesthood two days later at the St. Alexis Monastery in Moscow. Father John Bekish was appointed to serve in the military chaplaincy and as Assistant Rector of the Cathedral in Lublin. In 1917, he received his first priestly awards: the nabedrennik and skufia.
The Bolshevik Revolution that toppled the Czarist regime in Russia and the conclusion of World War I brought dramatic change to Father John’s life. Father John soon found himself living in the independent Polish Republic. On July 12, 1919, he was appointed Rector of the Parish in Guscha of the Lublin Region. It was during this time that tension abounded within the Church of Poland regarding its possible autocephaly and the metropolitan was assassinated in February 1923 by an archimandrite who opposed autocephaly. Nevertheless, the Polish Church was granted autocephaly by the Patriarchate of Constantinople in November 1924. Just before this, on August 2, 1924, Fr. John was transferred to a parish in Lishnivka of the Kovel Region, then to Bilsk in the Sarny Region on June 22, 1925, and, finally, to Poliza in the same region. While serving in this parish for some eight years, Fr. John was on December 11, 1928 appointed District Dean of the Second District of the Sarny Region and awarded the kamilavka. The following year, he received the right to wear a gold cross. In 1934, he was transferred to Kamin-Kashyrskyi and elevated to the rank of Archpriest. On May 1 of that year, Fr. John was additionally appointed District Dean of the First District of the Kamin-Kashyrskyi Region. He was subsequently appointed to the Consistory of the Pinsk Diocese on January 1, 1935 and as District Dean of the Third District of the Pinsk Region two months later, with additional responsibility as Assistant Rector of the Pinsk Cathedral, effective January 1, 1936. The following year, Father John was awarded the palitza. On August 26, 1938, he was transferred to Luninets, where he was appointed parish Rector and District Dean, and in October, also became Chairman of the Luninets Missionary Committee. This region in Poland, which is today in Belarus, was initially occupied by the USSR from 1939 to 1941. In 1940, Fr. John was awarded the jeweled cross. From 1941 to 1944, the region came under the control of Nazi Germany. In July 1944, with the looming threat of reoccupation of the region by the Soviet Union, Father John and his family evacuated from Luninets and Pinsk to Germany, where Father John would minister in Displaced Persons Camps. In October 1947, Father John was raised to the dignity of Mitered Archpriest and moved with his family to Belgium, where he joined the jurisdiction of the Russian Archdiocese (headquartered in Paris) under the Ecumenical Patriarchate and was assigned as Rector of Holy Trinity Church in Charleroi on August 1, 1948 and later also became the District Dean of the region.
Father John was soon invited to continue his priestly ministry in America. He arrived in the United States on March 20, 1952. Several weeks later, on May 8, he was assigned as Rector of Holy Trinity Church in McAdoo, PA. Nearly a year later, on March 31, 1953, Matushka Ksenia Bekish unexpectedly reposed in the Lord and was buried in the parish cemetery.
Less than two months later, on May 15, Father John was elected to be Bishop of Tokyo and Japan by the Great Council of Bishops (this was the then title of the body that is now called the Holy Synod of Bishops) of the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America (now – Orthodox Church in America). From the end of World War II until the granting of autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in America, the majority of the Orthodox in Japan was subordinated to the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America (popularly known as the Metropolia) under the archpastoral leadership of a hierarch appointed from America. Father John was elected to lead this diocese. At the same time that the Orthodox Church in America received autocephaly in 1970, the divided Japanese Church was reunited and granted autonomy. On May 28, 1953, Father John was tonsured a monk, receiving the name Ireney and was elevated to the rank of Archimandrite. His consecration to the episcopacy, which was presided by Metropolitan Leonty, took place at Holy Virgin Protection Cathedral in New York City on June 7, 1953. Bishop Ireney soon flew to Tokyo and energetically embarked on his archpastoral ministry there. The Tokyo Orthodox Seminary, established by Saint Nicholas of Japan but closed during World War II, was reopened through the efforts of Bishop Ireney. He was likewise successful in reconciling feuding factions within the Japanese Church. While serving in Japan, he also had archpastoral responsibility for the Orthodox mission in Korea that had joined the Metropolia after World War II. However, due to ethnopolitical tensions lingering in the region following World War II and the Korean War, Bishop Ireney had to oversee the release of this Korean community to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America. For his exemplary service as Bishop of Japan, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop on May 9, 1957. By 1960, the health of the elderly Metropolitan Leonty was failing and he required assistance to fulfill his archpastoral responsibilities. Coincidentally, the Diocese of New England was without a ruling hierarch. At Metropolitan Leonty’s request, on June 14, 1960, the Great Council of Bishops elected Archbishop Ireney to the see of Boston and New England and also charged him with responsibilities in assisting Metropolitan Leonty.
When Metropolitan Leonty reposed on May 14, 1965, Archbishop Ireney was elected locum-tenens of the Metropolitan’s See. In September the 12th All-American Sobor was convened in New York City to elect a new Primate for the Church. According to the statutory electoral procedure mandated a decade earlier and being used for the first time for the election of the Primate, two rounds of nomination votes by delegates to the Council were followed by canonical election by the Great Council of Bishops. Although a plurality of delegate votes favored Bishop Vladimir (Nagosky) of Japan, an American-born hierarch, he did not receive 2/3 of votes cast in the first round and the Great Council of Bishops chose to elect Archbishop Ireney as Primate after the second round of voting. The installation of Metropolitan Ireney took place that very day, September 23, 1965, immediately after the election.
During this period, the Metropolia had begun to revive its contacts with the Moscow Patriarchate, which were severed since the 1920s, and through active participation in SCOBA (The Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas) was taking steps toward tangible unity among the Orthodox in America. However, these efforts never came to fruition as the “mother” Churches abroad consistently rebuffed these attempts. Faced with the apparent failure of SCOBA’s efforts towards tangible ecclesiastical unity, the North American Metropolia, in its unique, unfettered situation of self-governance, undertook its own initiative under the leadership of its new Primate. By directive of the Metropolia’s Council of Bishops, and with the blessing of Metropolitan Ireney, Fr. Alexander Schmemann traveled to Istanbul in May 1966 to discuss the Orthodox situation in North America with Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras. With regard to the specific canonical situation of the Metropolia, the Patriarch emphatically stated, “Go to your Mother Church, for no one can solve your problem except the Russian Church…”. In December of 1966, Metropolitan Ireney addressed a long Christmas message to the Primates of the Orthodox Churches worldwide asking them to consider the situation of Orthodoxy in North America and to participate in finding a permanent solution within Orthodox ecclesiological precepts to address the canonical disorder. Metropolitan Ireney’s letter was largely ignored and the only substantive response came from Archbishop Paul, Primate of the Autonomous Orthodox Church of Finland. His heartfelt letter advocated the establishment of an administratively united, autocephalous, multiethnic and multiracial Church in the New World, achieved on the basis of dialogue and collaboration with the Churches of the Old World, which would be, in Archbishop Paul’s view, mutually beneficial for the Churches of both the Old World and the New.
The 13th All-American Sobor in 1967, the first council during the primacy of Metropolitan Ireney, would prove to be a milestone event on the historical path towards American autocephaly. The agenda of the Sobor, carefully prepared in advance and published by the Pre-Sobor Commission with the concurrence of the hierarchy, included a proposal to change the Metropolia’s official name from “Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America” to “Orthodox Church in America.” When the Sobor was already assembled in session, the hierarchs exercised their authority over all proceedings and decisions of the All-American Councils by announcing unexpectedly that a vote by the council would not be permitted on this proposal, as it was deemed premature. A stormy debate followed, after which the hierarchs permitted a non-binding “straw vote” by the council on the name change. As this vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the name change, it was decided that an extraordinary sobor should be convened in two years to deal specifically with this issue. However, ensuing events would make the convocation of this projected sobor unnecessary.
The view overwhelmingly expressed in the “straw vote” of clergy and lay delegates at the 13th All-American Sobor in 1967 in favor of a name change to “Orthodox Church in America” confirmed that at the “grassroots” level, in its conciliar conscience, the self-perception of the Metropolia was that of a local church. This was perhaps a contributing factor to the success of the informal talks that soon resumed with the Russian Church, with the blessing of Metropolitan Ireney. In these conversations, the consensus that autocephaly was the only ecclesiologically proper and canonically correct solution for North American Orthodoxy was now unquestioned. In January 1969, official discussions on autocephaly were launched between the Metropolia and the Moscow Patriarchate culminating with an agreement signed on March 31, 1970 at what is today the OCA Chancery in Oyster Bay Cove, NY. The fifteen months of sometimes-difficult negotiations, conducted in four separate sessions, were led by Metropolitan Nikodim of Leningrad for the Russian Church and a specially appointed Metropolia commission chaired by Archbishop Kiprian of Philadelphia, together with Frs. John Meyendorff, Joseph Pishtey, Alexander Schmemann and John Skvir as members. It must be noted that any stumbling blocks that arose during discussions were overcome largely through the indomitable joint determination, emerging mutual understanding, respect and later friendship achieved by two brilliant churchmen - Metropolitan Nikodim and Fr. Schmemann.
In the late evening of March 31, 1970, the agreement on autocephaly was solemnly signed by Metropolitans Ireney and Nikodim, in the presence of all the hierarchs of the Metropolia and the staff. According to this agreement, the North American Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate was dissolved. An auxiliary bishop of the Moscow Patriarch would administer any parishes that did not wish to immediately join the new autocephalous American Church. The Patriarch of Moscow and the Holy Synod of the Russian Church would officially proclaim the autocephaly of the American Church after ratifying the agreement signed on March 31, 1970. Metropolitan Nikodim returned to Moscow to present the agreement to the Holy Synod for ratification.
On April 10, 1970, after careful deliberation, Patriarch Alexis I and the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate, with the conciliar accord of the entire episcopate of the Russian Church, ratified the agreement and signed the Tomos proclaiming the Autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in America. In a telegram announcing this decision received four days later by Metropolitan Ireney in New York, he was addressed for the first time as “Your Beatitude” - a form of address reserved for Primates of autocephalous churches. Incidentally, at the same time as it granted autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in America, the Russian Church also bestowed a Tomos of Autonomy upon the Church in Japan, thus reuniting into a single entity the Japanese Diocese of the American Metropolia, formerly headed by Metropolitan Ireney, and a smaller body that had been affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate. The first primate of the autonomous Japanese Church was Metropolitan Vladimir (Nagosky), who received a plurality of votes from Council Delegates during the Primatial election in 1965.
On April 17, one week after signing the two Tomoses, 92-year old Patriarch Alexis I died in Moscow. In affirmation of restored Eucharistic communion, the Moscow Patriarchate invited the OCA to send official representatives to attend the patriarchal funeral. Metropolitan Ireney and the other senior OCA hierarchs who were not American-born and most of whom had come from lands that were now Soviet territory were wary of traveling to the Soviet Union, as they feared that once there, they might not be permitted to leave by the communist government. In spite of the great complexities involved in obtaining visas and arranging travel behind the Iron Curtain in the midst of the Cold War - especially on short notice, Bishop Theodosius of Alaska, a young American-born hierarch who would later succeed Metropolitan Ireney as OCA primate, was assigned to travel to Moscow for the funeral, thereby also restoring Eucharistic communion with the Russian Church severed more than four decades earlier. At the same time, arrangements were made for an OCA delegation to travel to Moscow in May to receive the Tomos of Autocephaly. The Holy Synod of the OCA appointed Bishop Theodosius to head the OCA delegation that also included four priests and two laymen. On May 18, 1970, the Tomos was presented to Bishop Theodosius and the OCA delegation by Metropolitan Pimen, Patriarchal Locum-tenens, and members of the Holy Synod of the Russian Church, in a solemn ceremony. The US ambassador to Moscow attended to witness this significant event. In his address expressing gratitude for the gift of autocephaly, Bishop Theodosius vocalized the spirit in which the autocephaly was received.
In August 1970, the glorification services for St. Herman, North America’s first Orthodox saint took place in Alaska, presided by Metropolitan Ireney. As the glorification of saints is a prerogative of autocephalous churches, this was at the same time a joyful celebration of his holiness and intercession for Orthodoxy in America and a prayerful thanksgiving for autocephaly.
Just over two months later, the 14th All-American Sobor convened at St. Tikhon’s Monastery. The name change proposed yet not enacted at the preceding council had become a practical reality. Opening with prayer to St. Herman asking for his intercession for the council’s upcoming deliberations, this was the first church-wide conciliar veneration of St. Herman as the first saint of North America. At its opening session, the council approved the name change to “the Orthodox Church in America” and thus confirmed and received autocephaly on behalf of the entire Church in America. In view of the new canonical status of the church, it was decided that the 14th All-American Sobor should henceforth be known as the 1st All-American Council of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church in America. Further expounding on the encyclical of the Holy Synod announcing the granting of autocephaly earlier that year, the 1st All American Council issued a message calling for unity among all Orthodox Christians in America.
In response to the appeals from the OCA for Orthodox unity in North America, the Albanian Orthodox Archdiocese headed by Bishop Stephen (Lasko) joined the Orthodox Church in America in 1971, while the Bulgarian Diocese under Bishop Kyrill (Yonchev) followed in 1976, following the example of the Romanian Episcopate led by Bishop Valerian, which had already united itself to the Metropolia in 1960. In 1972, a group of Mexican clergy and faithful were received into the Church and became the Mexican Exarchate of the OCA. In addition to the consecration of Bishop Jose (Cortes-y-Olmos) as Exarch of Mexico, five other episcopal consecrations took place during Metropolitan Ireney’s primacy. Three of these bishops were American-born, among them the two immediate successors to Metropolitan Ireney.
The exclusive task of the 2nd All-American Council, convened once again at St. Tikhon’s Monastery in October 1971, was to adopt the governing Statute of the Orthodox Church in America. This Statute, a revised version of the Statute gradually developed over the course of all the councils since the first in 1907 and finally adopted in 1955, was based on the short Constitution adopted the previous year. Revisions to reflect the new autocephalous status of the Orthodox Church in America were prepared in advance by a special commission. While dissenting voices were heard from the council floor regarding some provisions of the statute, hearkening back to the difficulties in the development of statutes and bylaws in previous decades, the articles of the new Statute were all passed by overwhelming majority votes. A key provision of the new Statute mandated the convocation of All-American Councils every two years, which was eventually amended to every three years.
Metropolitan Ireney was to preside at two more All-American Councils, the 3rd in 1973 and the 4th in 1975. These gatherings inaugurated a new era, as they were the first to have council sessions and services in a hotel. The 4th Council was the first Council to have a theme, as all Councils but one have had since then.
By 1974, as advanced age and failing health began to take a toll on his wellbeing, Metropolitan Ireney requested that the Holy Synod elect a Temporary Administrator to carry out day-to-day governance of the Church. On May 15, Archbishop Sylvester (Haruns) of Montreal and Canada assumed this position, working together with Metropolitan Ireney, who continued to approve all actions and decisions.
In March 1977, while the 5th All-American Council scheduled for October of that year was in its final planning stages, Metropolitan Ireney, whose health had continued to decline, presented a petition to the Holy Synod on March 9 to retire as Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, effective upon the election of his successor. The schedule of the 5th All-American Council was reconfigured adding an extra day at the beginning that would be devoted to the selection of the new Primate of the Orthodox Church in America. Thus, on October 25, 1977, Metropolitan Theodosius (Lazor) was elected to succeed to Metropolitan Ireney, becoming the first American-born OCA Primate.
In retirement and until his repose, Metropolitan Ireney resided at SS. Cosmas and Damian Adult Home, a newly established Orthodox facility in Staten Island, NY, where in appreciation of his archpastoral support and personal financial contributions towards the opening of the Home, the chapel within the facility was named in honor of his patron saint – Hieromartyr Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons.
He lived there quietly and humbly until he was called to his blessed reward at age 88 on March 18, 1981, while hospitalized. His funeral took place at Holy Virgin Protection Cathedral in New York City, which had been the primatial see during Metropolitan Ireney’s primacy. His internment followed at St. Tikhon’s Monastery Cemetery.
A number of significant milestones and important historical events marked Metropolitan Ireney’s life and primatial service. He was the last OCA Primate to be born in the 19th century. He was the last of four consecutive Primates who were widowers, in contrast to his successors, none of whom were married before acceding to episcopal office. He was the first Primate of the autocephalous Orthodox Church in America, but, paradoxically, the last to be born outside of the USA.
Metropolitan Ireney was very much a man of the old world, who, having arrived in America just months short of his 60th birthday, had to struggle to assimilate to a new culture, lifestyle, language, and even differing liturgical customs, which were not always to his liking. He was unable to master the English language and his speeches and sermons had to be translated. Meetings of the Holy Synod and other gatherings that he presided or attended had to take place in Russian or bilingually. In spite of these obstacles, and although he was not a highly educated man, Metropolitan Ireney had the wisdom and spiritual discernment to allow the Church to move forward through the dynamic efforts of the church leaders under his care, whom he blessed to labor toward autocephaly and the other monumental events and changes in church life that occurred during his primacy.