Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

The Local Synod of the Antiochian Archdiocese
L to R: Bp. Mark, Bp. Basil, Bp. Antoun, Metr. Philip, Bp. Joseph, Bp. Thomas, Bp. Alexander

The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America is the sole jurisdiction of the Church of Antioch in the USA and Canada with exclusive jurisdiction over the Antiochian Orthodox faithful in those countries, though these faithful were originally cared for by the Church of Russia in America.

Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Founder(s)	St. Raphael of Brooklyn
Autocephaly/Autonomy declared	2003
Autocephaly/Autonomy recognized	2003 by Church of Antioch as "self-rule"
Current primate	Metropolitan Philip
Headquarters	Englewood, New Jersey
Primary territory	United States and Canada
Possessions abroad	N/A
Liturgical language(s)	English, Arabic, Spanish
Musical tradition	Byzantine Chant, Russian Chant
Calendar	Revised Julian
Population estimate	84,000 to 380,000
Official website	Antiochian Archdiocese

History of the Archdiocese

St. Raphael of Brooklyn

The first Orthodox bishop consecrated in North America, St. Raphael Hawaweeny, was consecrated by the Russian Orthodox Church in America to care for the Orthodox Arab faithful in the USA and Canada. Through his efforts, what is known today as the Antiochian Archdiocese came into being.

However, after the Bolshevik Revolution threw the Russian Orthodox Church and its faithful abroad into chaos, the Orthodox Arab faithful in North America, simultaneously shaken by the death of their beloved bishop St. Raphael, chose to come under the direct care of the Patriarchate of Antioch. Due to internal conflicts, however, the Antiochian Orthodox faithful in North America were divided between two archdioceses, those of New York and Toledo, generally representing those who were loyal to the Church of Antioch and the Church of Russia, respectively.

St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral, Ottawa, Canada

With the signing of the Articles of Reunification by Metropolitan Philip (Saliba) and Metropolitan Michael (Shaheen) in 1975, the two Antiochian Orthodox archdioceses were united as one Archdiocese of North America (now with its headquarters in Englewood, New Jersey). Metropolitan Philip became the primate and Metropolitan Michael became an auxiliary archbishop. Since then the Archdiocese has experienced rapid and significant growth through the conversion of a number of Evangelical Protestants—both individually and as congregations, especially with the reception of the majority of the Evangelical Orthodox Church—and also through ongoing evangelization and the immigration of Orthodox Arabs from the Middle East.

The Archdiocese Today

Metropolitan Philip (Saliba)

Its current primate is Metropolitan Philip (Saliba), who has six other diocesan bishops assisting him in caring for the nine dioceses of the growing Archdiocese, which is the third largest Orthodox Christian jurisdiction in North America, having about 250 parishes and missions. Estimates of the number of faithful range from about 84,000[1] to 380,000[2] depending on the report and the counting method being used. The number of new Antiochian parishes in the decade between 1990 and 2000 rose by approximately 33%, and the primary membership growth in the Archdiocese has been from American converts.[3] The Archdiocese also includes the Western Rite Vicariate, a group of about 20 parishes which worship according to the Western Rite.

On October 9, 2003 the Holy Synod of the Church of Antioch granted the Archdiocese's request to be granted self-rule (as distinct from autonomy, and though the words have the same literal meaning in English, they are distinct in Arabic) to allow it to better govern itself, improve and increase its outreach efforts, internally organize itself into several dioceses, and progress further on the road to the administrative unity of the Orthodox Church in the Americas. Three new bishops were consecrated in December of 2004 to assist in the governance of the reorganized Archdiocese.

New bishops with the patriarch
Left to Right: Bp. Mark (Maymon) of Toledo, Patr. Ignatius IV (Hazim) of Antioch, Bp. Thomas (Joseph) of Oakland, Bp. Alexander (Mufarrij) of Ottawa

The Archdiocese also includes one monastic community, St. Paul Skete (Grand Junction, Tennessee), a community for women. It does not run any of its own seminaries, but sends its seminarians to theological schools run by other jurisdictions or overseas. The Archdiocese does run various non-seminary educational programs, however, including the St. Stephen's Course in Orthodox Theology.

The Antiochian Archdiocese is also a member of SCOBA.

The Episcopacy

Diocesan bishops

• Most Reverend Philip (Saliba) Archbishop of New York and the Archdiocesan District, Metropolitan of All North America, Locum Tenens of the Diocese of Worcester and New England
• Right Reverend Antoun (Khouri), Bishop of Miami and the Southeast
• Right Reverend Basil (Essey), Bishop of Wichita and Mid-America
• Right Reverend Joseph (Al-Zehlaoui), Bishop of Los Angeles and the West, Locum Tenens of the Diocese of Eagle River and the Northwest
• Right Reverend Thomas (Joseph), Bishop of Oakland and the East
• Right Reverend Mark (Maymon), Bishop of Toledo and the Midwest
• Right Reverend Alexander (Mufarrij), Bishop of Ottawa, Eastern Canada and Upstate New York

Former bishops

• Most Reverend Antony (Bashir), Archbishop of New York, Metropolitan of All North America (1936-1966), deceased
• Most Reverend Michael (Shaheen), Archbishop of Toledo (1958-1975), deceased
• Right Reverend Demetri (Khoury), auxiliary bishop for Toledo, retired

Book

• Corey, George S., ed. The First One Hundred Years: a Centennial Anthology Celebrating Antiochian Orthodoxy in North America, Englewood, NJ: Antakya Press, 1995 (ISBN 0962419028)

External links

• Official Website of the Archdiocese
• Official Website of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch
• History of the Archdiocese (book excerpt)