Funeral services for Archpriest Paul Schneirla, former long-time Professor of Old Testament at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, Yonkers, NY and Pastor Emeritus of Saint Mary’s Antiochian Orthodox Church, Brooklyn, NY, were celebrated on Wednesday, September 24, 2014. Father Paul fell asleep in the Lord on Saturday, September 20, at the age of 98.
A convert to Orthodox Christianity, Father Paul completed studies at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary in the early 1940s, when the school’s campus was located in New York City. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1943 and served parishes of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese in Iron Mountain, MI and Allentown, PA before his assignment to Saint Mary’s in 1951. He retired from active ministry in 2002.
As a priest of the Antiochian Archdiocese for 71 years, Father Paul served as the first chairman of its Department of Christian Education, as Dean of the Atlantic Deanery, and as the first Editor of The Word magazine. A tireless advocate for Orthodox unity in America, he worked under the direction of His Eminence, Metropolitan Antony Bashir (+1966) and His Eminence, Metropolitan Philip Saliba (+2014) as the Archdiocese’s Ecumenical Officer.
A charter member of the Orthodox-Anglican, Orthodox-Roman Catholic, and Orthodox-Polish Catholic ecumenical dialogues, Father Paul had been a member of the General Board of the National Council of Churches since the 1940s and was the last surviving member of the original founders of the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas. On December 20, 2007 SCOBA—the predecessor to the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America—recognized Father Paul in a resolution citing his “lengthy and extraordinary” support for inter-Orthodox development and communication. He also served as the Antiochian Archdiocese’s Western Rite Vicar General for many years.
Father Paul was married for 70 years to Khouria Shirley, who fell asleep in the Lord in 2012. The couple were parents of three children: Dorothy Downie Orrill and Peter Christian Schneirla, and the late William Sutfin Schneirla, Jr.
Additional information and photos may be found on the web site of Saint Vladimir’s Seminary.
May Father Paul’s memory be eternal!
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