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Orthodoxy in Taiwan

130 bytes added, 12:29, September 28, 2014
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In 2000, a Greek [[hieromonk]], Fr. Jonah (Mourtos) of [[Gregoriou Monastery (Athos)]], arrived, under the auspices of the recently-created [[Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia]] (OMHKSEA, f. 1996, and affiliated with the [[Ecumenical Patriarch]]), and with financial backing from the [[Kosmas Aitolos Missionary Society]] of Greece. He had previously been posted to missionary churches in Zaire and Calcutta. A small congregation of perhaps 30 people (swelling to more than a hundred at Christmas and Easter) formed as the Holy Trinity Orthodox Church (Taipei), aka the Orthodox Church in Taiwan, which formally registered with the government in 2003. It originally met in hotels and borrowed Catholic church buildings, then in a rented storefront in Taipei's Tianmu district, before moving to a fourth-floor apartment in Xindian. The congregation has included a mixture of Russians and East Europeans, as well as Chinese and Western converts. Liturgy is conducted in English, with parts translated into Chinese, Russian, and/or Greek. A satellite group, led by a lay reader, has been meeting in Taizhong (Taichung).
In 2005, INTERPOL contacted Taiwan authorities in an attempt to apprehend [[Christodoulos (Paraskevaides) of Athens|Christodoulos]] aide [[Apostolos Vavylis]], notorious for his role in the church scandals which made worldwide news that year. <ref> http://www.greeknewsonline.com/?p=3113 </ref> Vavylis had been traveling on false identity documents obtained through the assistance of church leaders, including Fr. Jonah, who traveled to Greece to testify to his lack of criminal intent (but was ultimately not called to testify). Vavylis indicated that he had traveled to Italy via Thailand with the help of (unnamed) "Taiwanese friends." <ref> http://barthsnotes.com/2008/02/03/byzantine-jerusalem/ </ref> <ref> Prof. Andr. Demetropoulos, ''Personal Life of Clerics.'' National Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Law, 2004-20055. http://www.greeklaws.com/pubs/uploads/1216.pdf </ref>
In 2012, Archbishop Mark of Yegorievsk, head of the [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian church]]'s Office for Institutions Abroad, "reactivated" the (1901) Christ the Savior parish, apparently in response to requests from Russians living in Taiwan. The following year, the Church of the Elevation of the Cross, aka the Taiwan Orthodox Church, was formed as a [[metochion]] of the Moscow Patriarchate, with Russo-Canadian hieromonk Fr. Kirill (Shkarbul) as its first resident priest. It meets in first-floor apartment in Taipei's Xinyi District, off the Hulin Night Market. Liturgy is conducted in Russian, Chinese, and English. (Fr. Kirill alternates between these three languages during the chanted portions, and delivers his sermon several times, translating himself.)
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