Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
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The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (often referred to in North America simply as the Antiochian Archdiocese) is the sole jurisdiction of the Antiochian Orthodox Church in the USA and Canada with exclusive jurisdiction over the Antiochian Orthodox faithful in those countries, though these faithful were originally cared for by the Russian Orthodox Church in America (indeed, the first bishop consecrated in North America, St. Raphael Hawaweeny, was consecrated by the Russian Orthodox Church in America to care for the Orthodox Arab faithful in the USA and Canada).
After the Bolshevik Revolution threw the Russian Orthodox Church and its faithful abroad into chaos the Orthodox Arab faithful in North America, simultaneously shaken by the death of their beloved bishop St. Raphael, chose to come under the direct care of the Patriarchate of Antioch. Due to internal conflicts, however, the Antiochian Orthodox faithful in North America were divided between two archdioceses, those of New York and Toledo.
In 1975 the two Antiochian Orthodox archdioceses were united as one Archdiocese of North America (now with its headquarters in Englewood, New Jersey). Since then it has experienced significant growth through the conversion of a number of evangelical Protestants (both individually and as congregations) and also through ongoing evangelization and the immigration of Orthodox Arabs from the Middle East. Its current primate is Metropolitan PHILIP Saliba, who has six other diocesan bishops assisting him in caring for the nine dioceses of the growing Archdiocese, which is the third largest Orthodox Christian "jurisdiction" in North America.[1]
On 9 October 2003 the Holy Synod of the Antiochian Orthodox Church granted the Archdiocese's request to be granted self-rule/autonomy to allow it to better govern itself, improve and increase its outreach efforts, internally organize itself into several dioceses, and progress further on the road to the administrative unity of the Orthodox Church in the Americas.[2]
The Archdiocese had formerly been a member of the National Council of Churches (NCC), but its Archdiocesan Convention voted unanimously on July 28, 2005 to withdraw fully from that body, citing increased liberalization and a generally fruitless relationship, making it the first major Orthodox jurisdiction in the US to take such a step.[3][4]
[edit] Diocesan Bishops
- Metropolitan PHILIP (Saliba) of New York and All North America (Locum Tenens of the Diocese of New England)
- Bishop ANTOUN (Khouri) of the Diocese of Miami and the Southeast
- Bishop BASIL (Essey) of the Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America
- Bishop JOSEPH (Al-Zehlaoui) of the Diocese of Los Angeles and the West (Locum Tenens of the Diocese of Eagle River, Alaska)
- Bishop THOMAS (Joseph) of the Diocese of Oakland and the East
- Bishop MARK (Maymon) of the Diocese of Toledo and the Midwest
- Bishop ALEXANDER (Mufarrij) of the Diocese of Ottawa, Eastern Canada and Upstate New York
