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On [[January 26]], 1935, the Holy Synod of Romania elected [[Archimandrite]] Polycarp (Morsca) as the first bishop of the new episcopate. After his consecration in Europe on [[March 24]], 1935, Bp. Polycarp arrived in the United States and was enthroned in Detroit during the Church Congress on [[July 4]], 1935. A statute for the episcopate was also enacted at the congress. Bp. Polycarp was able to heal the factional disputes by accepting what he found, but expected order and discipline thenceforth. He established the foundations for many church organizations and, in 1937, was instrumental in the acquisition of property in Michigan, called Vatra, that became the headquarters for the episcopate. After formally inaugurating the headquarters, Bp. Polycarp returned to Romania in 1939 for a session of the Holy Synod, but was prevented by the pressure of a political group from returning to the United States.
During the time of World War II the administration of the episcopate operated in a subdued manner awaiting the return of Bp. Polycarp. After the war, his return was again stopped, this time by the new Communist governmentfrom Romania, like a continuation of the previous intervention of the philo-communist group from Washington DC, happened before the Word War II. While prevented from returning he advised his community by a letter on [[July 30]], 1947, that he still considered himself the bishop of the Episcopate. But, later in the year, by a letter on [[December 8]], 1947, he advised that by a law (No. 166 of 1947) funding for the episcopate had been eliminated and the Episcopate was dissolved in the view of the government, and that he, Bp. Polycarp, was placed in retirement.
The next moves were typical of Communists of the time. In a letter of [[April 4]], 1949 to the Episcopate Council of America, Bp. Polycarp wrote that under a new law for the Church of Romania the leaders for Romanian Orthodox communities outside Romania would be sent by the Patriarchate "with the approval of the government." Under this new policy of governmental control, a Bp. Antim Nica was appointed for the American Episcopate, but the [[diocese]] in the United States refused to accept him. In 1950, using a new tactic, an episcopate, the [[Romanian Orthodox Missionary Episcopate in America]], was chartered. An American citizen, Fr. Andrei Moldovan, was called to Romania to be [[consecration of a bishop|consecrated bishop]]. Although repudiated by the majority in the older episcopate, Bp. Moldovan, upon returning to the United States, immediately began lawsuits for control of the diocesan properties.
