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This article seeks to be a clearinghouse of information and links regarding the history and state of '''[[Orthodox Christianity]] in the Philippines'''. The current Orthodox presence in the Philippines is minimal. However, early in the 20th century a small Russian parish, exclusively for Russian nationals, once existed in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. The presence of this Russian parish ceased to exist after the Second World War. Another Orthodox parish under the [[jurisdiction]] of the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate]] was founded in Manila during the early 1990s.

===1800s 1600s - Antiochian Armenian, Greek and Macedonian Orthodox Christians===It appears One source suggests that the Armenians, Greeks and Mecedonians were the first Orthodox Christians on the islands were Syrian and Lebanese merchants and sailorsisland. An eighteenth century document written by Murillo Velarde, who arrived in Manila after it was opened to outside trade. The first recorded Orthodox Christians a Jesuit historian describing their Order’s missionary labors in the Philippines were Syrian , records the presence of Armenian, Greek and Lebanese sailors Macedonian settlers in 1802 according to the Syrian Consulate in Philippine capital city of Manilaas early as 1618. [http://wwwmerlot.orthodoxumdl.orgumich.phedu/contentcgi/viewt/583/1text/pageviewer-idx?c=philamer;cc=philamer;q1=morenos;rgn=full%20text;idno=afk2830.0001.044;didno=AFK2830.0001.044;view=image;seq=31;page=root;size=s;frm=frameset;] Many of (Blair & Robertson's The Philippine Islands 1493-1898, Cleveland, Ohio: 1906, Vol. XLIV, p. 27). In his book ''Historia de Philipinas'' (published in Manila, 1749), the Lebanese sailors married and their families still reside Jesuit historian Velarde wrotes: "I believe that there is no city in the Philippines world in which so many nationalities come together as here....There are a considerable number of Armenians, and some Persians; and have become Filipino citizensTartars, Macedonians, Turks, including and Greeks....so that he who spends an afternoon on the owners ''tuley'' or bridge of a famous pizza parlor Manila will see all these nationalities pass by him, behold their costumes, and hear their languages - something which cannot be done in Manila. The oldest living Orthodox Christian any other city in the Philippinesentire Spanish monarchy, a Lebanese by and hardly in any other region in all the last name of Assadworld."(Cited in Blair & Robertson's The Philippine Islands 1493-1898, Cleveland, Ohio: 1906, Vol. XLIV, was born around 1904p.29). [http://merlot.umdl.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=philamer;cc=philamer;q1=morenos;rgn=full%20text;idno=afk2830.0001.044;didno=AFK2830.0001.044;view=image;seq=33;page=root;size=s;frm=frameset;]

[[Image:John Maximovitch Tubabao.jpg|right|thumb|Abp. John Maximovitch in Tubabao]]An influx of Russian emigrees fleeing the Soviet regime occured occurred during the American colonial regime. In 1935, a Russian [[parish]] was established in Manila, and the [[Patriarch]] of Moscow and All Russia appointed Father Mikhail Yerokhin as vicar. The Episcopal Church then permitted Fr. Mikhail to use the north transept of their cathedral for worship. In 1937, the first Orthodox church was built and was named after the Iberian [[Icon]] of the Mother of God. This also became the first Orthodox [[altar]] in the Philippines. Later, both the Episcopal Cathedral and the Russian Orthodox church in Manila were destroyed by American bombing during the Second World War.

Tubabao, however, was (and still is) an underdeveloped island which is humid, prone to typhoons, and at times inaccessible due to the ocean conditions. When a Russian commented on their fear that a typhoon would destroy their camp to local Filipinos, they replied that there was nothing to worry about because “your "your holy man blesses your camp from four directions every night.” " There were no typhoons or floods while Abp. John was there.

=== 1990s - Greek Filipino Orthodox Christians===Around the beginning of the twentieth century, Greek sailors settled in Legaspi city on the island of Luzon about a century ago. Descendants of these Greek Orthodox Christian sailors now number no more than 10 families, who have kept their Greek surnames and many of whom have become distinguished public figures and intellectuals in the Philippines, including serving as the Greek consulate in Manila. Though they do not speak Greekthe Filipino language fluently, they were largely responsible for the re-establishment of an Orthodox presence in the Philippines through their encouragement of Filipino converts and the Hellenic Orthodox Foundation.

[[Image:Manila_orthodox_cathedral.jpg‎|left|thumb|The Annunciation Orthodox Cathedral in Paranaque, Manila]]One of the first Greek Orthodox to arrive in the Philippines Philippine province of Albay was Alexandros Athos Adamopoulos (aka Alexander A. Adamson), who came to Legaspi city in 1928. Together with his brother and cousin he co-founded Adamson University in 1932. The university was and , which is noted for its curriculum directed towards the needs of the Philippines in the areas of science, chemical and industrial engineering. Adamson University, now owned by the Vincentian Fathers of the Roman Catholic Church, has attained recognition as a leading institution for graduate education, law, arts, sciences, chemistry, computer education, engineering, commerce and architechture. The university has a student population of over 22,000.

In 1989, Adamopoulos saw the need to establish the first true Greek Orthodox church in the Philippines and thus established the Hellenic Orthodox Foundation Inc. Although he died in 1993 before the church was completed, the Orthodox Cathedral was finished in 1996 and is constructed in true Byzantine style, with all the interior furnishings imported from Greece, and is home to approximately 200 520 Filipino Orthodox and 40 expats[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exarchate_of_the_Philippines]in Metro Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. This cathedral was consecrated by the His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on March 5, 2000.

[[Image:Filipinorthodox.jpg‎|left|Filipino Orthodox faithful in Paranaque, Manila]]Within the Ecumenical Patriarchate's [[Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia]], there are currently three Filipino Orthodox priests in the Philippines under the spiritual jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople , along with four nuns, and are administratively under an ecclesiastical vicar from Greece. In these communities, the Divine Liturgy and other Orthodox worship services are said in English, Greek and Filipino.

Metropolitan Archbishop [[Paul (Saliba) of Australia and New Zealand|Paul (Saliba)]] appeared to have established In 2007 the now defunct '''Antiochian Orthodox Christian Mission in the Philippines'''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiochian_Orthodox_Christian_Mission_in_the_Philippines] within , was established under the [[Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand]]. In 2008, two Filipino denominations were received into the Antiochian church, including 32 communities with some 6000 believers. These denominations - one ex-protestant, led by Fr Jeptah Aniceto, and one ex-independent, led by Fr Pascualito Monsato - formed two vicariates, based in Davao and Manila respectively. In late 2009, the Davao Vicariate left the Antiochian Archdiocese and joined [[ROCOR]] as [[Western Rite]] parishes under ([[Michael (as per the Holy Synod of AntiochMansbridge-Wood)|St Petroc Monastery Mission Society]]) .

*[http://www.ocpfacebook.uni.cc com/pages/Orthodox-Church-in-the-Philippines/187805037902231 Affiliate in the Philippines - Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and South East Asia]*[http://www.geocities.com/orthodoxyphilippines/ Official Website of the now defunct Antiochian Orthodox Christian Mission in the Philippines]. See also Wikipedia Encyclopedia article [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiochian_Orthodox_Christian_Mission_in_the_Philippines].

*[http://www.cs.ust.hk/faculty/dimitris/metro/Phil_major_events.html Major Events of Orthodoxy in the Philippines]