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==Archdiocese==
In September 1999, the Holy Synod of Antioch decided to elevate the diocese of Australia and New Zealand to archdiocese with its own ruling metropolitan archbishop. Archimandrite Paul, parish priest in Washington DC, was appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of the [[Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand]]. He arrived in Australia and took possession of his archdiocese on 29 November 1999. 1999 prompted a flurry of activity. In December, he Met. Abp Paul visited Newcastle and Brisbane, and prompted the decision to build the church of St Paul in Woolloongabba, Brisbane. This parish celebrated its first services in Other parishes formed this year included the building in 2002St Ignatius Mission, Canberra, Buna-Vestire Church, Bankstown (NSW) and St Herman of Alaska, with the consecration occuring in 2006Canterbury (Vic).
In January 2000, Fr John Vesic (a non-Arabic-speaking priest), was appointed parish priest of St Mary's Church, Mays Hill. In June of the same year, Fr Nicholas Gan (in Newcastle) was released to join the Moscow Patriarchate. The Holy Synod of Moscow accepted him on 19 July 2000, along with the Eastern Orthodox Parish of the Theophany at Mayfield West, Newcastle, which had been under the care of Bp Gibran on behalf of Moscow.
2001 was another time of great activity for the Archdiocese, particularly in New Zealand: St George, Auckland, St George, Wellington, and Sts Gregory of Nyssa and Marina, Diamond Harbour, were all founded in this year. In Australia, St Paul, Dandenong (Vic) was founded; and in December 2001, Fr John Vesic was appointed parish priest of Ss Michael and Gabriel parish, the first fully English-speaking Antiochian Orthodox parish in New South Wales. The new parish worshipped in rented premises in Homebush until 2005, when it moved to West Ryde. December 2006 saw Fr John released to the [[Serbian Orthodox The Church of St Paul, Brisbane, celebrated its first services in their new church in Australia 2002, and New Zealand]], when he was replaced by Fr Luke Bell. After Fr Luke left the Archdiocese celebrated its consecration in late 2007, he was succeeded by Fr Antonio Cagnoni2006.
2003 saw the first English-speaking Antiochian Orthodox parish in Victoria established, with Fr Geoff Harvey as the founding priest, under the patronage of the Good Shepherd. Later, worship was moved to Monash University, with Fr Geoff becoming the first Antiochian Orthodox university chaplain in Australia.
In August 2005, Archpriest [[Nicolas Mansour]] retired from full-time pastoral work, ending 42 years of service at the Cathedral. Archim. [[Nabil (Kachab)]], formerly of St Nicholas, Punchbowl, replaced him as Dean of the Cathedral.
December 2006 saw Fr John released to the [[Serbian Orthodox Church in Australia and New Zealand]], when he was replaced at Sts Michael and Gabriel by Fr Luke Bell. After Fr Luke left the Archdiocese in late 2007, he was succeeded by Fr Antonio Cagnoni.
Since his 2006 ordination, Fr John D'Alton has made several inroads in a number of very important areas. In the first 18 months after his ordination, he was made the university chaplain of La Trobe University, the first Orthodox military chaplain in Australia, is the rector of the Holy Transfiguration Mission, Belgrave Heights, and is the president of the [[Melbourne Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies]].
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