![Archimandrite Tikhon [Mollard]](https://images.oca.org/gallery/15807/24__large.jpg)
For the first time since his election as Primate of the Orthodox Church in America in 2002, Metropolitan HERMAN consecrated Holy Chrism during the Vesperal Liturgy of Great and Holy Thursday, April 4, 2004, at the Monastery Church of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk.
Bishop TIKHON, clergy from the OCA Chancery in Syosset, NY and clergy from the Diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania concelebrated the Vesperal Liturgy with Metropolitan HERMAN.
On August 4, 2003, the Chancery of the Orthodox Church in America was notified that His Eminence, Metropolitan Anthony [Bloom] of Sourozh, the 89-year-old head of the Russian Orthodox Church in Great Britain, had passed away.
Upon learning of Metropolitan Anthony’s death, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman sent a message of condolence to His Grace, Bishop Basil of Sergievo, who just days earlier had been named Administrator of the Sourozh Diocese by the Moscow Patriarchate.
Consecrated to the episcopacy in 1957, Metropolitan Anthony was charged with overseeing parishes in Great Britain and Ireland. In 1963 he was appointed Exarch of the Moscow Patriarchate in Western Europe. At his own request he was released in 1974 from the function of Exarch in order to devote himself to the pastoral needs of the growing flock of the London-based Sourozh Diocese.
Metropolitan Anthony was widely known for his theological and devotional writings, including Living Prayer, Meditations on a Theme, and God and Man, which have become Orthodox classics.
In light of growing concerns with regard to potential cases of abuse, members of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America, meeting in March 2003 under the presidency of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman, issued a comprehensive set of “Policies, Standards, and Procedures on Sexual Misconduct” for implementation in all OCA parishes, missions and institutions.
The policy was based on a draft presented by Attorney William White of the legal firm of Russin & Vecchi. While combining the OCA’s existing rules and policies on sexual misconduct by clergy and lay persons acting on behalf of the Church, the new policy supersedes guidelines issued in 1994 and 2002 while incorporating provisions found in the earlier documents. Members of the Holy Synod also took into consideration compliance with current insurance requirements and decisions made by civil authorities since 1994.
Members of the Holy Synod also created an Office for Review of Sexual Misconduct Allegations under the direct authority of the Metropolitan.
In addressing sexual misconduct issues, the hierarchs were guided by pastoral concern for the well-being of the Church and its faithful and the desire to protect the vulnerable from inappropriate behavior by those representing the Church.
One of two 70-pound bells cast at a Moscow foundry in remembrance of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US was presented to His Eminence, Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Arch- diocese of America on March 31, 2003.
The bell, which will hang in the reconstructed Saint Nicholas Church, destroyed in the World Trade Center attack, was presented to the Archbishop by Archimandrite Zacchaeus [Wood], Dean of the OCA’s Representation Church of the Great Martyr Catherine in Moscow, on behalf of the Orthodox Church in America and His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman. The bell’s Moscow twin will be hung in a special memorial tower honoring the 9/11 victims at the Saint Catherine Church.
Archbishop Demetrios noted that the twin bells will echo one another whenever they are rung. The reconstructed Saint Nicholas Church, as Archbishop Demetrios added, “will provide an Orthodox witness to those who come to Ground Zero and provide a spiritual refuge for all who want to find the peace of God.”
In May 2003, His Holiness, Patriarch Pavle of Serbia and the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church announced the glorification of Bishop Nicholai [Velimirovic] of Ochrid and Zicha.
Born in 1881, Saint Nicholai pursued theological studies in Serbia, Switzerland, England and Russia. In 1915, he visited many communities in the US before his election to the episcopacy in 1919 and subsequent episcopal ministry.
After World War II, he returned to the US, where he offered much assistance to the Serbian Church while living at Saint Tikhon Monastery, South Canaan, PA and serving as Dean of Saint Tikhon Seminary. His voluminous writings on a wide variety of theological subjects are well known and have been translated into numerous languages.
Saint Nicholai died on March 18, 1956 at Saint Tikhon Monastery and was buried at Saint Sava Monastery, Libertyville, IL. In 1991, his relics were transferred to Serbia and enshrined in the Lelic Monastery.
In two separate statements, members of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America called upon the faithful to pray and fast for a speedy resolution to the war on Iraq.
“With unswerving faith and hope in [God’s] love, as Orthodox Christians we are called upon to pray and to fast all the more fervently, that the present crisis will be resolved quickly and surely, with as little bloodshed as possible,” wrote His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman and the Holy Synod members in an archpastoral message issued at the outset of the war. “We pray that by Our Lord’s supreme goodness, that which is evil might be transformed into that which is not only good, but godly…. Let us pray for our nation’s leaders, and the leaders of other nations, that they will be moved to bring about an end to the conflict in a speedy manner, focusing their attention on producing a just and lasting peace. Let us pray for the countless innocent people, Christians and Muslims alike, whose lives are, and will continue to be, torn apart by untold suffering, hunger, sickness and death. And let us especially pray for the Christians of Iraq, so often ignored by the world community or branded as an insignificant minority, yet whose lives are indeed precious in the eyes of God.”
Two weeks later, as the war intensified, the hierarchs urged the faithful “not to become insensitive to the sights and sounds of human suffering to which we are eye-witnesses, but to rally around the Cross in even more vigorous prayer and intensified fasting, beseeching our good God… to end this war so that terror and killing cease and peace can have its place.”
“Civilians and combatants, both children of God made in His image, are casualties of man’s inhumanity against man,” the statement noted. “This is the fruit of the Fall, the wages of sin, our fallen human nature in revolt.”
Metropolitan Herman was among the hierarchs who signed a similar statement issued by the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas.
Among those deployed in the war effort were several Orthodox military chaplains, including the Revs. Jerome Cwiklinski, Mark Koczak, James Jadick, John D. Brown, and others. Metropolitan Herman, who serves as the ecclesiastical endorser for Orthodox military chaplains, especially commended the efforts of the chaplains who, like other military personnel, had to leave their families - and in some cases their parishes - to provide troops with an Orthodox Christian presence.
Thousands of faithful from across North America gathered at Saint Tikhon Monastery, South Canaan, PA May 23-26, 2003 to venerate the wonderworking icon of the Virgin of Tikhvin.
His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman and members of the Holy Synod of Bishops met the icon on the first day of the monastery’s 99th annual pilgrimage. The icon will be returned to Russia in June 2004.
Tradition holds that the icon is one of several ascribed to the Evangelist Luke. In the fifth century, the icon was transferred from Jerusalem to Constantinople, where it was enshrined in the Blachernae church, built in its honor. It miraculously appeared over Lake Ladoga in northern Russia in 1383, and was ultimately enshrined in the Dormition Monastery in Tikhvin, near Novgorod.
The late Archbishop John [Garklavs] of Chicago became the icon’s guardian in 1944, while serving as bishop of Riga, Latvia. In 1949, he brought the icon to the US, where it was periodically available for veneration in Chicago and elsewhere. After Archbishop John’s death in the early 1980s, the Very Rev. Sergei Garklavs, the Archbishop’s adopted son, was entrusted with the icon’s care, with the provision that it be returned to the monastery in Tikhvin after the demise of the Soviet regime.
His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel of Detroit and the OCA’s Romanian Episcopate received an honorary Doctorate degree from the University of Oradea during his visit to Romania in May 2003.
After concelebating the Divine Liturgy in the chapel of the university’s School of Theology, Prof. Dr. Teodor Maghiar, Dean, bestowed the diploma, cap and gown on Archbishop Nathaniel.
The award ceremony was held in conjunction with Archbishop Nathaniel’s three-week visit to Romania and to Romanian Orthodox communities in Hungary and Serbia.
Prof. Richard Schneider, Professor Emeritus of Church History at York University, Visiting Professor of Iconology at Saint Vladimir Seminary, Crestwood, NY, and a member of the Orthodox Church in America and Diocesan Representative to the Metropolitan Council, was unanimously elected President of the Canadian Council of Churches [CCC] in 2003. His election marks the first time in the CCC’s 50-year history that an Orthodox Christian has served in the organization’s top position.
The CCC recently underwent a number of structural changes in response to calls for reform in working processes and program content. It has now emerged as North America’s most broadly representative ecumenical body, embracing members from the Roman Catholic, Baptist, Mennonite and almost all mainline Protestant traditions.
“By shedding some of the older working styles and procedures, the CCC has adopted a much more congenial atmosphere for Orthodox participation,” noted Prof. Schneider shortly after his election. “The CCC has adopted a consensus method of decision making that has made the articulation and communication of Orthodox Christian positions much easier. We are being heard by our dialogue partners now more than ever.”
Hundreds of faithful from the Diocese of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania gathered on June 8, 2003 to honor His Eminence, Archbishop Kyrill on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his enthronement as diocesan hierarch.
His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman was joined by His Beatitude, Metropolitan Theodosius, His Eminence, Metropolitan Nicholas of the Johnstown, PA-based American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the USA, and dozens of diocesan clergy as the anniversary celebration opened with a Service of Thanksgiving.
Later the same month, clergy and faithful of the OCA’s Bulgarian Diocese also honored Archbishop Kyrill on the 60th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood during the 40th annual diocesan conference held at Saint Elia Church, Akron, OH. Archbishop Kyrill has guided the Toledo, OH-based diocese since its establishment in 1963. In 1976, he brought the diocese into the Orthodox Church in America.
A dozen young adults from OCA parishes across North America participated in a service trip to Alaska in June 2003 to help restore the historic Eklutna Cemetery near Anchorage.
Tracing its origins to 1650, Eklutna is the region’s oldest continually inhabited Athabascan site. The Eklutna Cemetery is widely known for the colorful “spirit houses” built over the graves of the deceased - a custom which blends Athabascan and Orthodox Christian customs. Families often use specific colors for their spirit houses to identify their clan, while Orthodox graves are marked with crosses. The adjacent Saint Nicholas Church, originally built in the 1830s, is the oldest standing building in the Anchorage area and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Next to the original structure is a newer church built in the 1960s, in which services are still held.
Hosted by His Grace, Bishop Nikolai of Sitka, Anchorage and Alaska, the young adults also venerated the relics of Saint Herman of Alaska and visited numerous other Orthodox sites.
As is customary after the election of a Primate of an autocephalous Church, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman began a series of visits to sister Orthodox Churches in 2003, within months of his election as Primate of the Orthodox Church in America in July 2002.
At the beginning of July, Metropolitan Herman traveled to Istanbul, Turkey for a week-long visit with His All-Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, who received him warmly at the Patriarchal complex in Istanbul’s Phanar district.
During the visit, Metropolitan Herman had an opportunity to discuss a number of topics of mutual interest related to world Orthodoxy. His Beatitude, Metropolitan HERMAN presented a hand-written icon of St. Herman of Alaska and Enlightener of North America, St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and Confessor of North America, and St. Bartholomew.He also visited a number of shrines and holy places, including the sixth-century Church of Hagia Sophia; the Church of Saint Irene, site of the Second Ecumenical Council; the Church of Saint Kyriaki; the famed 11th-century Church of Our Savior in Chora; and the Monastery of the All-Holy Mother of God in Valoukli, where he prayed at the tombs of the departed Ecumenical Patriarchs.
Metropolitan Herman also visited Nicea, site of the First and Seventh Ecumenical Councils, and Ephesus, site of the Third Ecumenical Council. During the celebration of the Divine Liturgy at Holy Trinity Monastery on the island of Halki, he partook of the Eucharist before visiting the Patriarchate’s premier theological institution, which was closed by the Turkish government in the 1970s.
During his visit, Metropolitan Herman also called on the US Ambassador to Turkey, the Honorable W. Robert Pearson, at the residence of the US Consul General, Dr. David Arnett. He also met with the country’s Roman Catholic, Jewish and Muslim leaders and various political personalities.
In June 2003, Metropolitan Herman paid his first official visit to the Orthodox Church of Russia at the invitation of His Holiness, Patriarch Aleksy II of Moscow.
The visit, initially scheduled for the week after Pascha 2003, was postponed until June due to health problems experienced by the Patriarch. Metropolitan Herman was anxious to meet personally with Patriarch Aleksy to assure him of the ongoing prayers of the OCA’s faithful.
In addition to meeting with Patriarch Aleksy, with whom he discussed a number of issues affecting the lives of their respective Churches, Metropolitan Herman visited the Holy Trinity-Saint Sergius Lavra, Russia’s most important monastery, where he venerated the relics of Saint Sergius of Radonezh and Saint Innocent Veniaminov. At the Moscow Theological Seminary and Academy, he addressed the faculty and students, speaking fondly of the close relationship that exists between the Churches of Russia and America.
In Moscow, Metropolitan Herman visited the Danilov Monastery, the OCA’s Representation Church of the Great Martyr Catherine, at which he celebrated the Divine Liturgy for the leavetaking of Pascha, and the Theophany Patriarchal Cathedral, where he celebrated the Vigil for the Great Feast of the Ascension. The following morning, he presided at the Divine Liturgy at the massive Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Russia’s national cathedral.
Metropolitan Herman was also hosted at the US Embassy by the US Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Alexander Vershbow.
Patriarch Aleksy presented Metropolitan Herman with the Order of Saint Sergius, First Class, the highest honor awarded by the Orthodox Church of Russia.
Metropolitan Herman visited Russia for a second time July 29-August 1, 2003, joining representatives from the world’s autocephalous Orthodox Churches for celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the glorification of Saint Seraphim of Sarov. Among the visiting hierarchs with whom he concelebrated during the three-day celebration were His Holiness, Patriarch Aleksy II of Moscow; His Holiness, Patriarch Pavle of Serbia; His Eminence, Metropolitan Jeremias of Switzerland, who represented the Patriarchate of Constantinople; and His Eminence, Metropolitan Vladimir of Saint Petersburg. He also had the opportunity to greet Russian President Vladimir Putin, who participated in the celebration. As a memento of their visit, Metropolitan Herman presented Patriarch Bartholomew with an icon of their patrons, Saints Bartholomew and Herman of Alaska, together with Saint Tikhon the Confessor, in which relics of Saints Herman and Tikhon had been embedded.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is the “first among equals” of the world’s Orthodox hierarchs. Metropolitan Herman’s visit to Orthodox Christianity’s ancient primatial see confirms the ties which already exist between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Orthodox Church in America and holds great promise for ongoing contact, cooperation, and a renewed and strengthened bond of love and unity.
His Beatitude, Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv and All Ukraine welcomed Metropolitan Herman as he began a week-long visit to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on August 2, 2003.
The visit began with the hierarchs concelebrating the Divine Liturgy in the recently rebuilt Dormition Cathedral in Kyiv’s historic Monastery of the Caves, after which Metropolitan Herman prayed before the countless relics in the monastery’s catacombs.
Metropolitan Herman visited numerous monasteries and churches, including western Ukraine’s famed Pochayiv Monastery, to which an estimated 20,000 pilgrims flocked for the community’s patronal feast day celebration. He prayed before the wonderworking icon of the Pochayiv Mother of God and the relics of Saints Job and Amphilokhy and presided at the festal Liturgy in the monastery’s massive cathedral.
Among the other shrines at which Metropolitan Herman prayed were Holy Trinity Monastery, Korets; Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Kremenetz; The Monastery of the Mother of God, Boyany; Saint John Monastery, Kreschatik; and Holy Ascension Monastery, Molnytsya, where he delighted children residing in the monastery’s orphanage with his presence.
Upon his return to Kyiv, Metropolitan Herman visited numerous monasteries and churches and offered an interview for a popular Orthodox radio program.
He was warmly received by Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, while at the US Embassy he met with Charge d’affaires Marie L. Yovanovitch, Acting Chief of Mission. He also visited the Canadian Embassy, where he was hosted by Ambassador Andrew Robinson.
In his numerous speeches and sermons, Metropolitan Herman challenged Ukraine’s believers to remain faithful to Ukraine’s canonical Orthodox Church, headed by Metropolitan Volodymyr, in the face of mounting challenges from several schismatic groups.
Warsaw’s Cathedral of Saint Mary Magdalene here was filled to capacity on September 4, 2003, as His Beatitude, Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland welcomed Metropolitan Herman on behalf of Poland’s nearly one million Orthodox faithful.
Reflecting on the close relationship that has developed between the Orthodox Churches of Poland and America in recent years, Metropolitan Herman remarked that many OCA faithful trace their ancestry to Poland, and that numerous North American hierarchs and clergy, including the late Metropolitan Ireney, Archbishop Kiprian, and Saint Tikhon, had served the Polish Church.
In Warsaw, Metropolitan Herman visited the US Embassy, where he was warmly received by Cameron P. Munter, Deputy Chief of Mission; Gerald C. Anderson, Political Counselor of the US Embassy; and John Lowell Armstrong, Second Secretary for Political and Labor Affairs for the US Embassy. He was also received by Mr. Ralph J. Lysyshyn, Canadian Ambassador to Poland, at the Canadian Embassy, and Roman Catholic Cardinal Jozef Glemp. Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski hosted Metropolitan Herman at his residence and listened intently as he explained the history and vision of the Church in North America.
Metropolitan Herman visited several regions with substantial Orthodox populations. In Poland’s southeastern Lemko region, he celebrated the Divine Liturgy in Gorlice on the feast of Saint Maxim Sandowicz, an Orthodox priest martyred in the early 1900s.
In Lublin, he served the Liturgy in the city’s ancient cathedral and prayed at the Majdanek death camp, in which countless Orthodox Christians and others perished during World War II. He also visited Bialystok and Bielsk-Podlaski, major Orthodox centers in the country’s northeastern corner, as well as the monasteries in Suprasl, Grabarka and Jableczna. Following the celebration of the Divine Liturgy in the Warsaw cathedral, he presented Metropolitan Sawa with an icon of Saints Sava of Serbia, Herman and Tikhon, in which relics of the latter two saints had been embedded. He also prayed at the graves of Poland’s deceased Orthodox primates, who are interred next to the Church of Saint John of the Ladder in Warsaw’s Wola district.
On August 4, 2003, the Chancery of the Orthodox Church in America was notified that His Eminence, Metropolitan Anthony [Bloom] of Sourozh, the 89-year-old head of the Russian Orthodox Church in Great Britain, had passed away.
Upon learning of Metropolitan Anthony’s death, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman sent a message of condolence to His Grace, Bishop Basil of Sergievo, who just days earlier had been named Administrator of the Sourozh Diocese by the Moscow Patriarchate.
Consecrated to the episcopacy in 1957, Metropolitan Anthony was charged with overseeing parishes in Great Britain and Ireland. In 1963 he was appointed Exarch of the Moscow Patriarchate in Western Europe. At his own request he was released in 1974 from the function of Exarch in order to devote himself to the pastoral needs of the growing flock of the London-based Sourozh Diocese.
Metropolitan Anthony was widely known for his theological and devotional writings, including Living Prayer, Meditations on a Theme, and God and Man, which have become Orthodox classics.
Hundreds of clergy and faithful joined hierarchs from the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas [SCOBA] and the Standing Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches [SCOOCH] and dozens of representatives from the United Nations at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Cathedral, New York, NY on October 6, 2003 for the third annual Orthodox Prayer Service for the UN community.
His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman hosted and presided at this year’s service, prior to which His Eminence, Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America welcomed the numerous UN ambassadors, diplomatic representatives, and staff members in attendance. Hierarchs representing SCOBA and SCOOCH jurisdictions were also present.
“Orthodox communities in the United States and around the world are well aware of the evil potential of religion when it is misused,” Metropolitan Herman said in an address after the service. “Extremist nationalism or other forms of extremist ideologies often seek to harness the energy of religion to their own purposes and aims. Sometimes, religious communities succumb to manipulation and to the temptations of idolatrous nationalism, ethnocentrism, or other forms of ideological extremism.”
Mr. Joseph Stephanides, Director of the Security Council Affairs Division of the UN Department of Political Affairs, read a message from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who was unable to attend the service. Ambassador Adamantios T. Vassilakis, Permanent Representative of Greece to the UN and Armenia’s Ambassador, Permanent Representative to the UN Armen Martirossian, also addressed the congregation.
Other members of the UN community attending the service represented numerous countries, including Albania, Belarus, Cyprus, Egypt, Finland, Georgia, India, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, and Ukraine.
On October 9, 2003, the Holy Synod of Antioch voted unanimously to grant self-rule to the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.
The Synod’s decision was rendered after a series of meetings by a bilateral commission in-cluding representatives of the North American Archdiocese and the Patriarchate.
At the Archdiocese’s 2003 convention, clergy and lay delegates had voted overwhelmingly to appeal to the Antiochian Holy Synod for self-rule. His Eminence, Metropolitan Philip, Archdiocesan Primate, related the convention’s decision to members of the Holy Synod, who met in the fall at the Patriarchate in Damascus, Syria.
In a resolution issued by the Antiochian Holy Synod, the Archdiocese’s unity with the Patriarchate was affirmed. The Archdiocese’s Auxiliary Bishops were made Diocesan Bishops and, with Metropolitan Philip, constitute a Local Synod governing the Archdiocese. Diocesan Bishops will be elected by diocesan assemblies and consecrated in North America by the Metropolitan and representatives of the Antiochian Holy Synod.
Candidates for the office of Metropolitan will be nominated according to the Constitution of the Church of Antioch and the Constitution and Bylaws of the Archdiocese. The names of three nominees will be submitted to the Holy Synod of Antioch, which will elect one of them. The Metropolitan will be a member of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate as well as of the Archdiocese’s Local Synod.
The resolution also notes that, in all matters of hierarchical discipline, Bishops of the Local Synod may appeal to the Patriarch of Antioch and the Holy Synod. Decisions of the Holy Synod will be binding on the Archdiocese on matters of doctrine, liturgy, sacraments, relations with autocephalous Orthodox Churches and ecumenical policy with regard to other Christian and non-Christian bodies.
The 45th anniversary of the consecration of Saint Sergius of Radonezh Chapel at the Chancery of the Orthodox Church in America, Syosset, NY was celebrated on October 11-12, 2003 with Vespers and the Divine Liturgy concelebrated by His Beatitude, Metropolitan Theodosius, retired OCA Primate, and the Very Rev. David Brum, Secretary to His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman.
While serving as the chapel of the Primate of the Church, Saint Sergius Chapel also serves members of the Chancery staff and their families, as well as a number of Orthodox faithful living in the immediate area. Following the Saturday Vesper service, celebrated by Protopresbyter Robert Kondratick, OCA Chancellor, a Memorial was served for the departed hierarchs and members of the Chancery staff who devoted their lives to the strengthening and growth of the Church in America.
Following the Liturgy, Metropolitan Theodosius reflected on his experiences in the chapel during his tenure as Primate. Also attending the Liturgy was His Grace, Bishop Seraphim of Ottawa and Canada.
His Grace, Bishop Nikon of Baltimore was elected ruling Bishop of the Boston-based Albanian Archdiocese during the fall session of the Orthodox Church in America’s Holy Synod of Bishops October 20-23, 2003. A few weeks earlier, delegates to the Albanian Archdiocesan Assembly, held in Jamaica Estates, NY, nominated Bishop Nikon as a candidate for the vacant Boston see.
Metropolitan Herman presided at Bishop Nikon’s installation at Saint George Cathedral, South Boston, MA on November 22, 2003.
Bishop Nikon also oversees the administration and life of the Diocese of New England, for which Metropolitan Herman serves as Locum Tenens.
Born in New York City on October 9, 1945, Bishop Nikon was raised in a family active in the Albanian Archdiocese of the Orthodox Church in America. His father had served as lay chairman and founder of the Diocesan Theological Student Fund, while his mother served as choir director at the family’s home parish of Saint Nicholas, Jamaica Estates, NY. His late brother John served on the parish council of Saint George Church, Trumbull, CT, while his youngest brother, James, served as lay chairman of the Jamaica Estates parish and member of the Archdiocesan Council’s Student Fund. His elder brother, the Very Rev. Arthur Liolin, is Chancellor of the Boston-based Albanian Archdiocese.
Bishop Nikon studied at Saint Vladimir Seminary, Crestwood, NY; Iona and Concordia Colleges, New Rochelle, NY; and the New School for Social Research and Political Science, New York, NY. He was tonsured to the Order of Reader by His Eminence, the late Metropolitan Theophan [Noli]. In 1967, he married the former Sarah Arthur. After his ordination to the Diaconate and Holy Priesthood by the late Bishop Stephen [Lasko] in 1969, he served Saint Nicholas Church, Southbridge, MA and Saint Thomas Church, Farmington Hills, MI. He also served as editor of “The Vine.”
After nearly 75 years of estrangement, representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate [MP] and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia [ROCOR] initiated a dialogue in the fall of 2003 aimed at reconciling the churches.
His Holiness, Patriarch Aleksy II of Moscow and All Russia received a high level delegation of ROCOR hierarchs and clergy at his residence in the fall. In mid-November, nearly 150 ROCOR clergy gathered in Nyack, NY to discuss the impending reconciliation and offer input to the ROCOR Synod of Bishops, under the presidency of the First Hierarch, His Eminence, Metropolitan Laurus. During the clergy gathering, Protopresbyter Robert Kondratick, OCA Chancellor, and the Very Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky attended a banquet of ROCOR hierarchs and clergy and expressed hope that ongoing dialogue will prove fruitful.
Metropolitan Laurus is expected to visit Patriarch Aleksy in Moscow at the beginning of 2004.
ROCOR traces its origins to the chaos which ensued after the 1917 Russian Revolution as a number of hierarchs who had found themselves outside the boundaries of the Soviet Union organized a Synod to oversee the life of communities on non-Soviet territory. In 1950 ROCOR’s headquarters were moved from Germany to New York, NY.
Mr. Serge G. Troubetzkoy, 96, Archivist Emeritus of the Orthodox Church in America, died peacefully on October 26, 2003.
Born Prince Serge Grigorievich Troubetzkoy in Moscow, Russia, he was a member of one of Imperial Russia’s most illustrious noble families.
Following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, the Troubetzkoys fled Russia, eventually settling in France. After completing studies in agricultural engineering, he married Princess Lubov Alexeevna Obolensky in 1933 and settled in New York City.
In 1950, the Troubetzkoys moved to Montreal, Quebec, where Mr. Troubetzkoy served on the parish council at Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral and as a member of the Archdiocesan Council. He also served as the diocese’s lay representative to the OCA’s Metropolitan Council and as lay vice-chairman of several All-American Sobors.
After his retirement in 1970, Mr. Troubetzkoy was appointed Secretary to the late Metropolitan Ireney, estate manager of the OCA Chancery, and eventually Archivist. After Metropolitan Ireney’s retirement, he served as Secretary to Metropolitan Theodosius. He wrote and published many articles on Church history in secular and religious periodicals. His labors in organizing the OCA archives provided the foundation upon which the work of the Department of History and Archives continues to this day.
Upon his retirement as Secretary to the Metropolitan and Archivist in 1983, Mr. Troubetzkoy was named Archivist Emeritus. In retirement, he continued working in the archives on a part-time basis, providing invaluable assistance to the staff and sharing his vast knowledge and experience. In 1997, deteriorating health made his regular presence at the Chancery impossible.
Two historic cathedrals marked the 100th anniversaries of their consecrations in 2003.
In early November, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman and His Grace, Bishop Job of Chicago concelebrated services marking the 100th anniversary of the consecration of Chicago’s historic Holy Trinity Cathedral.
Designed by renown Midwest architect Louis Sullivan in consultation with Saints Tikhon and John Kochurov, at that time Bishop of North America and Rector of the Chicago parish respectively, the cathedral’s unique blend of early 20th-century elements and classic 19th-century Russian provincial architectural lines have made it a well-known Chicago landmark.
The weekend brought to an end an entire year of celebrations, which included symposia on the cathedral’s architecture and construction and the life and death of Saint John Kochurov, a choral concert, and a number of other commemorative events.
Later the same month, Metropolitan Herman, at the invitation of His Holiness, Patriarch Aleksy II of Moscow and All Russia, presided at the Divine Liturgy marking the 100th anniversary of the consecration of New York City’s Saint Nicholas Cathedral. Among those concelebrating with Metropolitan Herman were His Eminence, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and His Grace, Bishop Mercurius of the Patriarchal Parishes in the US.
Also built during the tenure of Saint Tikhon and the pastorate of Saint Alexander Hotovitzky, the magnificent cathedral boasts classic 19th-century design and ornamentation. A thorough restoration of the cathedral’s lofty interior and exterior was completed in time for the anniversary celebration.
Saint Nicholas Cathedral serves as the Representation Church of the Russian Orthodox Church in the US.
Archimandrite Tikhon [Mollard] was elected to the episcopacy by the members of the Holy Synod of Bishops at their fall session in October 2003. He will serve as Auxiliary to His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman, and bear the title “Bishop of South Canaan.”
Metropolitan Herman and other members of the Holy Synod will concelebrate Bishop-Elect Tikhon’s consecration, slated to be celebrated at Saint Tikhon Monastery February 13-14, 2004.
Archimandrite Tikhon was born in Boston, MA on July 15, 1966. In 1988 he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Sociology from Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA, after which he moved to Chicago. In 1989 he was received into the Orthodox Church, and in the fall of the same year, began studies at Saint Tikhon Seminary. One year later he entered the monastic community at Saint Tikhon Monastery.
After receiving his Master of Divinity degree in 1993, he was appointed Senior Lecturer in Old Testament at Saint Tikhon Seminary.
In 1995 he was tonsured to the Lesser Schema and given the name Tikhon. Later that year he was ordained to the Holy Diaconate and Holy Priesthood. In 2000 he was elevated to the rank of Archimandrite. In December 2002, he was appointed by Metropolitan Herman to serve as Deputy Abbot of Saint Tikhon Monastery.
On Saturday, December 13, 2003, the feast of Saint Herman of Alaska, prayers were offered in many parishes for the late Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann on the 20th anniversary of his repose.
At Three Hierarchs Chapel at Saint Vladimir Seminary, Crestwood, NY, a Memorial was celebrated after the festal Divine Liturgy. Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko, Dean Emeritus, delivered the homily.
Dean of the seminary from 1962 until his death in 1983, Father Schmemann worked tirelessly for the good of his students, the seminary, and Orthodoxy in America. During his tenure, the seminary achieved international recognition as a center for Orthodox theological studies. In addition to teaching at the seminary, Father Schmemann held adjunct positions at Columbia University, New York University, and Union and General theological seminaries in New York.
Father Schmemann’s published works, including For the Life of the World, Introduction to Liturgical Theology, and Church, World, Mission, continue to attract an increasingly broad readership. Saint Vladimir Seminary Press has published several of his works posthumously, including The Eucharist, The Journals of Father Alexander Schmemann 1973-1983, and his short exposition on the Lord’s Prayer, titled Our Father. He also was well known internationally for his weekly broadcasts to the Soviet Union over Radio Liberty, a ministry which he pursued for over 30 years.