St. John the Baptist Cathedral (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory)
| Cathedral of St. John the Baptist St. John the Forerunner | |
|---|---|
 St. John the Baptist Cathedral, Narrabundah, Canberra
| |
| Parish | |
| Jurisdiction | Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia |
| Diocese | Australian and New Zealand Diocese |
| Dean | Archpriest Alexander Morozow |
| Founded | 1 April 1952; made a parish 10 June 1963 |
| Liturgical language(s) | Church Slavonic, some English |
| Calendar | Julian |
| Status | Cathedral since 2015 |
| Church | |
| Dedication | St. John the Baptist |
| Location | Narrabundah, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory |
| Built | 1974-1988 |
| Consecrated | 1988 |
| Architecture | 14th-century Pskov and Novgorod churches |
| Official website | |
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The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (also called St. John the Forerunner) is a Russian Orthodox cathedral in Narrabundah, Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory. It is a parish of the Australian and New Zealand Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.[1] Its church, built between 1974 and 1988 in the style of the 14th-century churches of Pskov and Novgorod in north-west Russia, was fully consecrated in 1988, the year of the millennium of Russia's conversion to Christianity.[2]
History
Founding (1952-1966)
By 1950 several Russian families were living in Canberra and nearby Queanbeyan. At their request, and with the blessing of Archbishop Theodore (Rafalsky), Fr Theodore Mikhaliuk, secretary of the diocesan administration, held the first parish general meeting on 1 April 1952. The new community took St. John the Forerunner as its patron.[2]
Services were held at first in various venues and churches, then in a large shed at "Riverside". In 1960 the community bought a temporary building and moved it onto a block of land in Narrabundah allotted by the Department of the Interior for a church. This temporary church was completed in 1962. On 10 June 1963 a decree of Archbishop Sava (Raevsky) made the community a parish, and it was registered under the parish by-laws of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia on 14 May 1966.[2]
Until 1965 priests travelled from Sydney to serve in Canberra. The parish's first resident priest, Fr Anthony Dudkin, arrived just before Orthodox Christmas in 1965.[2]
The present church (1974-1988)
Construction of the permanent church began in 1974, and the temporary church became the parish hall. The church was completed in 1988, when the iconostasis was erected and the church was fully consecrated, in the year of the celebrations of the millennium of Russia's conversion to Christianity. It is built in the style of the 14th-century churches of the Pskov and Novgorod regions.[2] The church was completed under Archbishop Paul (Pavlov), who regarded its consecration as the high point of the diocese's celebrations of the millennium.[3]
Cathedral (2015-present)
In October 2014 the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia appointed Bishop George (Schaefer) as a vicar bishop of the Australian diocese, with the title "Bishop of Canberra". He was inducted in April 2015.[4] Until then the diocese referred to St. John the Baptist as a parish church, with Archpriest Alexander Morozow as its rector.[5] From 2015 it called the church a cathedral, with Bishop George as its rector and Fr Alexander as its dean.[6]
Bishop George, who was based in Sydney, held the title of Bishop of Canberra until 21 September 2022, when he became ruling bishop of the diocese with the title "Bishop of Sydney, Australia and New Zealand".[4][7]
Clergy
| Years | Rector |
|---|---|
| 1952-1965 | No resident priest; services by visiting priests from Sydney[2] |
| 1965-1986 | Priest Anthony Dudkin[2][8] |
| 1986-Present | Archpriest Alexander Morozow (in Canberra from 1984)[8][5] |
| 2015-2022 | Bishop George (Schaefer) of Canberra, with Fr Alexander Morozow as dean[6] |
Priest Anthony Dudkin (1965-1986)
Fr Anthony (Anatoli Pavlovich) Dudkin (1900-1986), a Cossack from Essentuki, Russia, served with the White Cossack forces in the Armed Forces of South Russia and then in Wrangel's Russian Army until the evacuation of Crimea in 1920 and then settled in Yugoslavia.[9][8] After the Second World War he trained at the Displaced Persons Police School run by the US Army in Stuttgart.[8] He emigrated to Adelaide in 1950, where he was active in the St. Nicholas parish. Archbishop Sava (Raevsky) ordained him a priest on 28 April 1963.[8] He became the parish's first resident priest at the end of 1965,[2] served it until his death on 23 August 1986, and saw the building of the present church through most of its construction.[8]
Archpriest Alexander Morozow (1984-present)
Fr Alexander Morozow, born in Melbourne, was ordained deacon in 1979 and priest in 1981 by Archbishop Theodosius (Putilin). After serving in Geelong and Melbourne he was assigned to Canberra in 1984, and was elevated to archpriest in 1999 after tireless service to the Church.[8]
He was rector of the parish until it became a cathedral in 2015, and has since been its dean/rector.[5][6][1] In 2013, at the parish's patronal feast, he received the Order of St. Anna from Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, head of the Russian Imperial House.[5]
Other clergy
Other clergy who have served at the church include Priest Alexander Borodin, Priest Seraphim Slade, Protodeacon Alexander Kotlaroff and Deacon Martin Naef, who concelebrated at the 2009 patronal feast.[10]
Parish life
The dean of the cathedral is Archpriest Alexander Morozow.[1] The principal language of the services is Church Slavonic, with some English.[11][1]
Gallery
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Cathedral Domes -
Chandelier and Painted Frescos -
-
Church after Construction -
Church during Construction
See also
- Diocese of Australia and New Zealand (ROCOR)
- Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
- Orthodoxy in Australia
- List of parishes in the Australian Capital Territory
- Paul (Pavlov) of Sydney - archbishop when the church was completed and consecrated in 1988
- George (Schaefer) of Sydney - Bishop of Canberra from 2015 to 2022
- Seraphim Slade - ordained deacon at the cathedral in 2008 and later served there
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 St. John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cathedral, parish website.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 "A Brief History", St. John the Baptist parish website.
- ↑ "Tenth Anniversary of the Repose of Archbishop Paul", Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, 2005.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 George (Schaefer) of Sydney (OrthodoxWiki article).
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Feast Day of Saint John the Baptist Church in Canberra", Australian and New Zealand Diocese (ROCOR).
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Saint John the Baptist Cathedral, Canberra, Feast Day", Australian and New Zealand Diocese (ROCOR), July 2015.
- ↑ "Bishop George of Canberra appointed Ruling Bishop of the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand", Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, 23 September 2022.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Michael Protopopov, A Russian Presence: A History of the Russian Church in Australia (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2006).
- ↑ S. V. Volkov, Участники Белого движения в России (Participants in the White Movement in Russia), database, letter Д, entry "Дудкин Анатолий Павлович".
- ↑ "Canberra Parish Celebrates Patronal Feastday", Australian and New Zealand Diocese (ROCOR), 9 July 2009.
- ↑ St. John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cathedral, parish website (mobile version).
External links
- St. John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cathedral (English and Russian)