Alexis Toth

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Saint Alexis Toth (or Alexis of Wilkes-Barre) (1853-1909) was a Russian Orthodox church leader in the American Mid-West. At first he was a Ruthenian Greek-Catholic missionary priest, sent to the United States from Eperjes in Hungary (present day Prešov in Slovakia). Roman Catholic Archbishop (of St. Paul, Minnesota) John Ireland refused to recognize Toth as a Catholic priest because he was married. Although this was allowed in the Ruthenian Rite, it was allegedly forbidden at that time for such married priests to enter the United States. As a result Toth and most of his flock left the Ruthenian Catholic and joined the Russian Orthodox Church in the late 19th century.