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''In 1922, a Sobor was held that ultimately decided on autonomy for the American Archdiocese*Abp. In 1927, due to large protests for and against the [[MetropoliaApollinary (Koshevoy) of San Francisco]]'s decision, the diocese (and the Russian church in America1926-27) was divided in two, along those loyal to the [[Russian Orthodox Church Abroad]] and those loyal to what would later become the [[OCA]].''
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In North America, one of the most important and major [[Seesee]]s in the Orthodox Church belongs to the Bishop of San Francisco. Up until the 1920s, only one see with this title "bishop of San Francisco" existed, under the Omophorion [[omophorion]] of the Russian Orthodox Church. When communism came to power in Russia, the Orthodox Church in the Americas was left to fend for itself. To further complicate things, the Greek Archdiocese [[Ecumenical Patriarchate]] established the "diocese a Diocese of San Francisco" under in the context of the auspices 1922 charter of the [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America|Greek Orthodox Archdiocese under the Ecumenical Patriarchateof North and South America]]. Years later the [[Metropolia]] (later the [[OCA]]) and the [[Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia]] broke into two jurisdictions in America and the diocese in San Francisco was divided into two amongst the Russians. There is also a Serbian bishop of Western America whose seat is in Alhambra and an Antiochian bishop of Western America whose seat is in Los Angeles. Until a general council of Orthodox bishops is convened, this uncanonical situation is tolerated.
==Bishops of San Francisco==
''Recognised as such by the OCA, the ROCOR and the Patriarchate of Moscow.''
*Bp. [[John (Mitropolsky) of the Aleutians|John (Mitropolsky)]] 1870-1876 Transferred the [[Cathedra ]] from Sitka to San Francisco in 1872, unnofficial)
*Bp. [[Nestor (Zakkis) of the Aleutians|Nestor (Zakkis)]] 1879 - 1882 (In his time the Holy Synod in St. Petersburg officially recognizes the move to San Francisco, thus, Bp. Nestor was the first "Bishop of San Francisco" He died at sea whilst sailing to Alaska from San Francisco. His body was found at the mouth of the Yukon river and was buried at Unalaska.)
*Bp. [[Nicholas (Ziorov) of Warsaw|Nicholas (Ziorov)]] (1891- 1898)
*St. [[Tikhon of Moscow|Tikhon (Belavin)]] of Moscow (1898- 1907) American Cathedra transferred from San Francisco to New York. American Archdiocese given to two auxiliaries, Bishop [[Innocent (Pustynsky) of Alaska|Innocent (Pustynsky)]] for Alaska and St. [[Raphael of Brooklyn|Raphael Hawaweeny]] for the Syrians.
*Archbishop [[Apollinary (Koshevoy) of San Francisco]] (1926-33) In 1927, the diocese (and the Russian Church in America) would split in two, he was at that time expelled from the [http://www.holy-trinity.org Holy Trinity Cathedral] on Green Street in San Francisco. He and half of the community of Holy Trinity started a seperate parish, which would later become [http://www.sfsobor.com Holy Virgin Cathdral] (ROCOR) on Geary Blvd.
===The ROCOR Bishop of San Francisco===
*Abp. [[Apollinary (Koshevoy) of San Francisco]] (19261927-33)
*Abp. [[Tikhon (Troitsky) of San Francisco]] (1934-1962)
*St. [[John Maximovitch]] of San Francisco (1962-1966)
*Bp. [[Nektary (KontsevichKontzevitch) of Seattle]] Administrator of the diocese in San Francisco, 1966-1968
*Abp. [[Anthony (Medvedev) of San Francisco]] (1968-2000)
===The OCA Bishop of San Francisco===
''In 1922, a Sobor was held that ultimately decided on autonomy for the American Archdiocese. In 1927, due to large protests for and against the [[Metropolia]]'s decision, the diocese (and the Russian church in America) was divided in two, along those loyal to the [[Russian Orthodox Church Abroad]] and those loyal to what would later become the [[OCA]].''
*Abp. [[Alexis (Panteleev) of San FranciscoAlaska|Alexis (Panteleev)]] (1927-1931)
*Metr. [[Theophilus (Pashkovsky) of San Francisco|Theophilus (Pashkovsky)]] (1931 - 1950) (He was made Archbishop of San Francisco from 1931 until his repose in 1950 in SF.
*Abp. [[John (Shahovskoy) of San Francisco|John (Shahovskoy)]] (1950-1973, 1975-1979).
*Bp. [[Basil (Rodzianko) of San Francisco|Basil (Rodzianko)]] (1980-1984).
*Bp. [[Tikhon (Fitzgerald) of San Francisco and Los Angeles|Tikhon (Fitzgerald)]] (1987-2007)
*Bp. [[Benjamin (Peterson) of San Francisco|Benjamin (Peterson)]] (2007 - present).
===Ecumenical Patriarchate - Metropolis of San Francisco===
''The initial Charter of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America provided for Greek diocesan sees in New York, Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco. A new charter issued in 1930 abolished these dioceses; however, an auxiliary bishop continued to reside in San Francisco and oversaw the western parishes of the Greek Archdiocese until the reestablishment of the Greek Diocese of San Francisco in 1979. In 2002, the Greek Orthodox Diocese of San Francisco was elevated to the rank of Metropolis.''
*Bp. [[Kallistos (Papageorgapoulos) of San Francisco]] (1927-1940)
*Bp. [[Eirinaios (Tsourounakis ) of San Francisco)]] (1941-1944)
*Bp. [[Athenagoras (Kokkinakis) of Thyateira and Great Britain|Athenagoras (Kokkinakis) of Eleia]] (1950-1955)
*Bp. [[Demetrios (Makris) of Olympos]] (1955-1960)
*Bp. [[Meletios (Tripodakis) of ChristianopoullsChristianoupolis]] (1960-1978)
*Met. [[Anthony (Gergiannakis) of San Francisco]] (1978-2004)
*Met. [[Gerasimos (Michaleas) of San Francisco]] (2005-present)
== External Links ==
*[http://www.westsrbdio.org Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Western America] - Bishop Maxim of Alhambra (Serbian Orthodox Church in the USA and Canada)
== Sources==
* ''Orthodox America 1794-1976 Development of the Orthodox Church in America'', C. J. Tarasar, Gen. Ed. 1975, The Orthodox Church in America, Syosett, New York
== References ==
*"A Brief History of Holy Trinity Cathedral" - Archpriest V. Sokolov [http://www.holy-trinity.org/about/history.html Link]
*"Bishops of San Francisco" - by N. Yangson
*"Former Hierarchs of the Orthodox Church in America" - Orthodox Research Institute [http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/resources/hierarchs/oca/former_hierarchs.htm Link]
*"A History of the Russian Church Abroad and the events leading to the American Metropolia's Autocephaly, 1917-1971" - N.S. Palassis, Saint Nectarios Press, 1972. ISBN:0913026042
[[Category:Bishops]]
[[Category:Bishops of San Francisco|*]]
[[Category:Orthodoxy in America]]
