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{{diocese|name=The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA|jurisdiction=[[Church of Constantinople|Constantinople]]|type=Archdiocese|founded=1923, 1929, 1996|bishop=[[Constantine Antony (BahanScharba) of IrinoupolisHierapolis|Metr. ConstantineAntony]]|see=IrinoupolisHierapolis|hq=South Bound Brook, New Jersey|territory=United States|language=Ukrainian, [[Church Slavonic]], English|music=[[Kievan Chant]] & [[Galician Chant]]|calendar=[[Julian Calendar|Julian]]|population=''unknown''|website=[http://www.uocofusa.org/ UOC-USA]}}
The '''Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA''' ('''UOC of USA''') is a [[jurisdiction]] of the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate]] in the United States. It consists of three eparchies ([[diocese]]s), ruled by two diocesan [[bishop]]s, including about 105 [[parish]]es and missions. Its current [[primate]] is His BeatitudeEminence, [[Metropolitan]] [[Constantine Antony (BahanScharba) of IrinoupolisHierapolis]].[[Image:UOC of USA (3).jpg|left|thumb|Bishops: Abp. [[Antony (Scharba) of Hierapolis|Antony of Hierapolis]]; Metr. Constantine of Irinoupolis; Abp. [[Vsevolod (Maidansky) of Scopelos|Vsevolod of Scopelos]]]]
==History==
The UAOC sent Metr. John (Teodorovich) in 1924 to head an American-Canadian diocese, arriving amid questions about the validity of his [[consecration of a bishop|consecration]], given that he had been [[ordination|ordained]] by UAOC bishops, whose consecrations were unrecognized by the mainstream of the Orthodox Church. John had great success in organizing parishes, due to his considerable administrative skill and his insistence on the liturgical use of Ukrainian (rather than [[Church Slavonic]] or English) as well as other Ukrainian cultural identifiers. In the aftermath of Ukrainian independence, nationalist feelings ran strong, and so an emphasis on Ukrainian identity was welcome to those who gathered under John.
Around the same time the [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church of America]] formed, an organization of former [[Uniate]] parishes who had disputed with the Vatican over the issue of parish property ownership and enforced clerical [[clerical celibacy]]. On [[April 9]], 1929, a meeting of 15 [[clergy]] and 24 [[laity]] was held in Allentown, Pennsylvania, at St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church, in which those attending agreed to form a diocese of Ukrainian Orthodox Christians, though unlike those who had affiliated themselves with the UAOC, they wished to be part of a recognized canonical authority.{{orthodoxyinamerica}}
Another meeting took place in New York City two years later, at which Fr. [[Joseph (Zuk) of New Jersey|Joseph (Zuk)]] was nominated to become their bishop. He was ordained in September of 1932 to be the bishop of the new group, becoming an [[auxiliary bishop|auxiliary]] of Archbishop [[Aftimios Ofiesh]], the primate of the [[American Orthodox Catholic Church]] (an early attempt at an autocephalous church in America by the [[OCA|Russian Metropolia]]). Bishop Joseph died only two years later, however, and in 1937, through the leadership of Joseph's successor, [[Bohdan (Spylka) of Evkarpia|Bohdan (Spylka)]], the diocese was received into the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate]] by Archbishop [[Athenagoras I (Spyrou) of Constantinople|Athenagoras (Spyrou)]] (then head of the [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America]]), who ordained Bohdan in New York City. Bp. Bohdan at one point had rule over around 45 parishes, also having some initial success in attracting parishes away from the UAOC in America, due to his more moderate views.
During and after World War II, Ukrainian Orthodoxy in America changed radically, as a number of bishops came over from Europe who had been connected either with the UAOC, the [[Belarussian Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church]] (another unrecognized group), or the autocephalous [[Church of Poland]] (then unrecognized by [[Church of Russia|Moscow]], but recognized by [[Church of Constantinople|Constantinople]]). These bishops tended to prefer Metr. John's organization over that of Bp. Bohdan, contributing to the swelling of the former's ranks to around 80 parishes, while the latter could claim perhaps only around two dozen (in both cases, however, many of these parishes were little more than missions or house [[chapel]]s).
Serafim Surrency writes:
==Current structure==
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA is divided into three two [[eparchy|eparchies]]:*Central Eparchy (Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Upstate New York, Western Pennsylvania), headed by Metr. Constantine of Irinoupolis (Parma, Ohio)*Eastern Eparchy (Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Eastern Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, Virginia), headed by Abp. [[Antony (Scharba) of Hierapolis|Antony of Hierapolis ]] (New York, New York)*Western Eparchy (Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, NebraskaNew Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Western Pennsylvania, Washington, Wisconsin, Ontario Province), formerly headed by Abp. Vsevolod of Scopelos Bishop [[Daniel (reposed December 16, 2007Zelinsky)of Pamphilon|Daniel of Pamphilon]] (Chicago, Illinois)
In total, there are about 105 parishes, two [[monastery|monasteries]], and one seminary, [[St. Sophia Ukrainian Orthodox Theological Seminary (South Bound Brook, New Jersey)|St. Sophia Ukrainian Orthodox Theological Seminary]] in South Bound Brook, New Jersey. Besides the two three hierarchs, the clergy consists of 106 [[priest]]s and 15 [[deacon]]s.[http://uocofusa.org/diodirect/clergy_dir.shtml] 15 of the parishes currently have either no pastor or are served by clergy in their [[deanery]].[http://uocofusa.org/directory/]
==See also==
*[[Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church]]
*[[Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada]]
*Hewlett, Dn. Edward. [http://www.archdiocese.ca/moreUOCCformation.pdf ''The Formation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada'']
*Surrency, Archim. Serafim. ''The Quest for Orthodox Church Unity in America: A History of the Orthodox Church in North America in the Twentieth Century''. New York: Saints Boris and Gleb Press, 1973.
*[http://www.cnewa.org/ecc-bodypg-usdefault.aspx?eccpageIDID=42&IndexViewpagetypeID=toc 9&sitecode=HQ&pageno=1 Eastern Christian Churches: The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA and Diaspora], by Ronald Roberson, a Roman Catholic priest and scholar
*[http://uocofusa.org/history/ An Outline of the History of the Metropolia Center of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA] (official website)
