A SHORT HISTORY

OF
THE HOLY ORTHODOX CATHOLIC AND APOSTOLIC CHURCH OF AMERICA
ARCHDIOCESE OF AMERICA

SAINT TIKHON OF MOSCOW, ENLIGHTENER OF AMERICA

The Beginning of the Western Rite

Western Rite Orthodoxy is known for its commitment to the traditional liturgical forms of the Roman West, while
maintaining complete doctrinal fidelity to the conciliar history of the Undivided Church, which was maintained
in the Christian East Betwixt the Orthodox East and Catholic West, the First-World North and the Global South,
there is a Cruciform Church re-emerging that will lead into a future with joy and hope, despite the rapid
secularization occurring in Western Europe and North America!

JULIAN JOSEPH
OVERBECK
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Julian Joseph Overbeck (1820-1905) was a Roman Catholic priest who converted to Eastern Orthodoxy and
became a pioneer of Western Rite Orthodoxy. By 1876, Overbeck began to make appeals to many Orthodox
Churches for their recognition of his scheme of a revived Western Church. He received audiences with the
Patriarch of Constantinople Joachim III and received recognition from the Patriarch of the theoretical right of
Western Christians to have a Western Orthodox Church. However, Overbeck's efforts did not result in the
establishment of a Western Orthodoxy. He attributed this failing to the hesitance of the Greeks in London (and
the Church of Greece generally) to grant approval due to the “newness and importance” of the question and
because the Greeks may have feared taking the wrong step and compromising themselves. The Orthodox Catholic
Review published its final issue in 1885 and Overbeck died in 1905 without seeing the implementation of the
Western Orthodox Church. Georges Florovsky summed up Overbeck's experience in this way: "it was not just a
fantastic dream. The question raised by Overbeck was pertinent, even if his own answer to it was confusedly
conceived. And probably the vision of Overbeck was greater than his personal interpretation.”

The Foundations of the Archdiocese

The history of Orthodoxy in America is a long and convoluted one, confusing at points, and always showing the
theanthropic nature of God’s Spirit filling and using broken individuals for his glory. All the way up into the
1890’s, the Orthodox approach to missions was inconsistent and led to the dispersal of the Orthodox Faithful into
other churches in the New World. Only after the Russians allowed the mission of Saint Tikhon of Moscow (1865-
1925) was there a recognizable and canonical presence in the United States, and a foundation for other work to
take place. The Orthodox Archdiocese of America canonically started with Saint Tikhon's mission, but would
have to wait until Metropolitan Archbishop Aftimios for secular incorporation.

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 SAINT TIKHON AT BP. CHARLES GRAFTON'S CONSECRATION IN FOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN,
1900

SAINT RAPHAEL OF BROOKLYN

Saint Tikhon passed his Orthodox mission to Saint Raphael of Brooklyn (1860-1915) before returning to Russia
and taking up his cross as the first Patriarch in the Russian Church in 300 years. Saint Raphael was faithful to his
calling, and worked diligently to receive dissatisfied Anglo- Catholics, who were allowed to use the “Western
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Rite” within their communities under Saint Raphael’s care. Upon his deathbed in 1915, the American Orthodox
Archdiocese that he had formed passed to Metropolitan Aftimios Ofiesh (1880-1966). Aftimios was a man of
great vision, and he sought to establish a Church for all Americans. However, ethnic preferences began to appear
and destroy his vision. He became disgusted after a fellow bishop betrayed him, and started to make decisions
unilaterally. Unfortunately, Metropolitan Aftimios married ten years later, without the support of old-world
Patriarchates, convinced by the ancient canons that it was allowed to do so. The promises of various Anglo-
Catholic groups that would have justified Metropolitan Aftimios ’decision in the sight of the Old World
Patriarchates, showing how a married episcopate could lead to to the widespread conversion of Anglo-Catholics
to Orthodoxy, and would have brought great financial and spiritual support his mission, fell through and led to
further marginalization for the Orthodox Archdiocese. This breakdown is what led the Russians, Greeks and
Syrian/Antiochians to start their own American Archdioceses in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, and led directly
to the inter-jurisdictional chaos of American Orthodoxy today.

ARCHBISHOP AFTIMIOS OFIESH & CLERGY OF SAINT

MARY'S CATHEDRAL

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 The Archdiocese Under Saint John Maximovitch

The Archdiocese passed to Archbishop James Tombs and he and his clergy were received as an autocephalous
jurisdiction by Metropolitan Vitaly and Saint John Maximovitch in 1951, when Saint John moved his people
from Shanghai to San Francisco. Archbishop James Toombs was a Baptist convert to Orthodoxy, and was
canonically and validly affirmed in his orders by the saintly founders of the ROCOR. He was directly involved
with Saint John Maximovitch’s plans to establish the Western Orthodox Church of France, although he did not
attend the Consecration of Jean-Nectarie of Saint Denis. Due to political pressure and scandal amongst the
Russian immigrants over having an American hierarch, and also because he allowed Saint Tikhon’s Mass,
which many Slavophiles deemed unacceptable and “unorthodox”, Archbishop James retired from the Russian
Church in 1958, while maintaining the missionary organization that the ROCOR had canonically recognized for
him. He was slanderously and untruthfully accused of Masonry by various Russian priests who were bent on
destroying him, but he always maintained his innocence and rejected all forms of occultism and heresy,
teaching only what was approved by the Orthodox Church. The initial recognition that they received, the
canonical documentation, and the Tomos that ROCOR had given to the American Mission was, however, never
revoked.

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TOMOS OF FOR THE ARCHDIOCESE FROM THE ROCOR, 1951

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ARCHBISHOP JAMES TOOMBS AND WIFE

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 ARCHBISHOP JAMES (CENTER) WITH THE HOLY SYNOD OF ROCOR

ARCHBISHOP JAMES TOOMBS ENTHRONED BY THE ROCOR AS ARCHBISHOP OF THE

AMERICAN CHURCH
(SAINT JOHN MAXIMOVITCH ON THE FAR RIGHT)

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 The Former Exarchate Connection

Archbishop Dionysios (Makogambrakis)

His Beatitude was born on August 14th, 1919 in the town of Heraklion, on the Island of Crete, in the country of
Greece. He is known in the world by the surname Makogambrakis, and attended the government seminary
Pytagoraia Institute in Heraklion, Crete, from 1934 to 1937. In 1937 he was tonsured a monk at the Holy
Monastery of Iviron on Mount Athos. In 1940 the Monk Dionysius was ordained to the Diaconate and in March
1943 he was ordained a Priest by Metropolitan Ierotheos of Militoupoleos, Greece, at the request of the Holy
Monastery of Iviron. His Eminence has studied Patrology and Theology for over 14 years.

ARCHBISHOP DIONYSIOS OF NEW ENGLAND AND NORTH AMERICA

During the pilgrimage to the Church of the Holy Monastery of Iviron, he was assigned by the Patriarch of
Jerusalem as Superior of Saint Peter Monastery and Holy Mother's Shrine in Nazareth, Israel. By 1945,
Hieromonk Dionysios was appointed a member of the ecclesiastical court under Metropolitan Isidoros. Later
during the same year, he was assigned as Superior of the Monastery of Cana in Galilee and he continued to serve
the Lord there until 1960. In 1960, Patriarch Benedictos of Jerusalem re-assigned him as Superior of Saint
Charalambos Monastery in Jerusalem and also assigned him to serve as a priest at the Cathedral of Saint
Constantine and Saint Helen in Jerusalem.

A year later in 1961, he was appointed Superior of Holy Cross Theological School in Jerusalem. At the same
time Hieromonk Dionysios studied Greek, Hebrew, Russian and English at the Hebrew University. He continued
to serve the Holy Cross until July 1963 when, with the permission of Patriarch Benedictos, he returned to the
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Holy Monastery of Iviron on Mount Athos in order to seek permission from his Brotherhood to journey to the
United States of America.

After receiving the blessing of the Iviron Brotherhood, Hieromonk Dionysius left for America, arriving in the
second half of 1963. For the remainder of 1963 and part of 1964, he served as a Priest at Saint Markela Orthodox
Church is Astoria, New York, under the Greek Bishop Petros (Astifitheso) who was in turn functioning under the
administration of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.

In the fall of 1964, after coming under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, he was assigned
by Archbishop Photios, the former Metropolitan of Phatos on the Island of Cyprus as Archimandrite at Saint
George Greek Orthodox Church in Lowell, Massachusetts. In 1966, Archimandrite Dionysius was transferred to
the Orthodox Church of resurrection in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. While serving the body of Christ at the Church
of the Resurrection, he also attended English classes at Brown University.

Five years later, in 1971, Archimandrite Dionysius was canonically elected Bishop by the Parishes of the Greek
Orthodox Church in America. On March 7, 1971, he was consecrated to the Episcopate of the Orthodox Church
by Bishop Andreas and Anthony of the Slavic Orthodox Church. The Church of the Resurrection was then raised
to the status of Cathedral. His Grace continued to serve there until 1980. After serving the Lord in Pawtucket,
Rhode Island for nearly fourteen years at the Resurrection Orthodox Cathedral, Bishop Dionysius raised Saint
George Orthodox Church in Memphis, Tennessee, to the status of Cathedral and transferred there.

On January 11, 1983, Bishop Dionysius was requested to serve as Exarch for the Exarchate of the Patriarchate of
Alexandria in America known there as the Diocese of New England, and the Patriarch confirmed the canonical
consecration of Bishop Dionysius by “chirostheos”, a conditional re-consecration. On May 26, 1986, His
Holiness Patriarch Nicholas gave "Autocephaly" (which means "Auto-Self", or "Independence") to his Exarchate
in America and Bishop Dionysios became the first Primate of the Former Alexandrian Exarchate of North
America.

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Archbishop Dionysios was accused of breaking the law in Canada. The senior hierarchy of his Synod, in order to
protect the Former Alexandrian Exarchate, asked him to step down. He did and fled to the US and remained there,
never to return to Canada. In 2005 Archbishop Anthony, who had been appointed Archbishop of New York by
the Metropolitan Archbishop Constantin, arranged to have him taken back to Canada to clear his name.
Unfortunately, he died 2 weeks later, on the 28th of December, 2005, and the matter was never resolved.

ARCHBISHOP DIONYSIOS AT ONE OF HIS LAST ORDINATIONS (2005)

The Lineage of the Former Exarchate of the Patriarchate of Alexandria

The Greek Orthodox Former Exarchate of the Patriarchate of Alexandra begins its history in the year 1933 under
the Omophorion of the Holy Patriarch Fotius. The following Exarchs were commissioned and assigned to the
United States of America:

1. Archbishop Christoforus Kontogeorgos

2. Rev. Father Stelianos Papstelianou
3. Very Rev. Constandinos Pappas
4. Very Rev. Archimandrite Anthimos Rousakis - Last known serving in Metropolis peristeriou, in Athens,
Greece
5. The Most Rev. Bishop Theoklitos Letsos - Last known serving as a member of the Holy Patriarchate of
Alexandria
6. The Very Rev. Archimandrite Emmanuel Korkithakis - Last known serving in Metropolis Fthiotidos,
Greece
7. The Very Rev. Archimandrite Gregorios Moutzouris - Last known serving as the former Exarchate of
Odessa, Russia

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 8. The Most Rev. Bishop Dionysios Makrogambrakis - The last Bishop appointed as Exarchos by His
Holiness Patriarch Nicholas The 6th of Alexandria. He was officially appointed in January of 1983, and
then granted Autocephaly in May of 1986. Utilizing the authority granted by Patriarch Nicholas the 6th,
he formed the Former Exarchate of Alexandria’s Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
9. The Most Rev. Constantin Athanasius Spyrou
10. The Most Rev. Anthony Bondi

Archbishop Dionysios and Archbishop Theophan Noli worked on trying to bring the Canonical Albanian
Orthodox Church in Diaspora and the remnants of the Autocephalous Polish Orthodox Church (both of which
were established by the Ecumenical Patriarch until the confusion of WWII, when they “revoked” their
autocephalous status) together in the US, and this resulted in a very strong group of expatriated bishops with many
churches in the Southern United States. They were then received by the Alexandrian Exarchate with Archbishop
Dionysios, and formed a solid core of local parishes in America that made the Former Exarchate a viable and
self-sustaining jurisdiction for many years.

ARCHBISHOP DIONYSIOS PRESIDING IN THE 1970’s

The Albanian Connection

Founder of the Canonical Orthodox Church of Albania

Archbishop +Theophan Noli was originally an Anglican Albanian priest, a Harvard graduate, politician and
theologian. He was ordained by the Russian Orthodox in the US at the same time Bishops +Aftimios Ofiesh and
+James Toombs established the Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Noli was consecrated bishop and primate of
the Autocephalous Albanian Church in 1922 by Polish Bishops who had received consecration from the
Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1919. The Ecumenical Patriarchate recognized the Polish Church as autocephalous
from 1922 until 1936, when disputes between ecclesial and secular authorities caused the Ecumenical Patriarch
to "revoke" their status. The bishops were later ruled as “Uncanonical” after the fall of Poland in 1936 and the
capitulation of the Church to the Nazis. Archbishop Theophan was recognized as the official patriarch of the
Independent church of Albania by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1933, although this recognition would only last
a few years. The Albanian Church underwent extreme hardship and it was nearly eradicated over the course of
20 years under the Communists. Archbishop Theophan died in 1965 in Florida, USA, from complications due to

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surgery. The Albanian Orthodox Church has now been revived and Archbishop Theophan is recognized as a
national hero by Albania and as a saint by many Orthodox. He was the source of many co-consecrations within
the Archdiocese in the 1950’s and 60’s, was a champion of an Independent American Church, and was an advocate
of a married episcopacy.

THE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH'S RECOGNITION OF ARCHBISHOP THEOPHAN NOLI

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 ARCHBISHOP THEOPHANE NOLI, FOUNDER OF THE CANONICAL CHURCH OF ALBANIA

Autocephaly

Then, when things turned ugly between the Alexandrian Exarchate and the Greek Church in the mid-1980’s,
mostly due to the fact that the Ecumenical Patriarchate wanted all Greek-Speaking Churches in the US to come
under their authority, they were granted another TOMOS, but this time for complete autocephaly, by Patriarch
Nicholas VI. The autocephaly from the Alexandrian Patriarchate was, canonically, monumental and gives it equal
claim to the Orthodox Church of America, and so this has been the Archdiocese's one significant claim, even with
the dismissal of the Archdiocese by Orthodox fundamentalists who believe everything after Aftimios to be invalid.
What this shows is that the succession is not dependent upon Archbishop James Toombs, or upon the bishops
who continued into the 1970's. With this covering and canonical establishment, the accusation of schism is
invalidated, as is the argument that both the Greeks and the Russians take now, that the Archdiocese has no "right"
to form its own synod.

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TOMOS OF AUTOCHEPHALLY FROM PATRIARCH NICHOLAS VI

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A GREEK ARTICLE ABOUT THE NEWLY ESTABLISHED AUTOCHEPHALOUS JURISDICTION
Submission of the Orthodox Archdiocese of America to the Former Alexandrian Exarchate and the Establishment
of a Mixed Synod

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Archbishop James (Toombs) carried the Orthodox Archdiocese with three other bishops into the 1970’s, passing
the torch to Metropolitan John (Schnyder) and Archbishop James (Johnson), who then brought the Archdiocese
under the Alexandrian Exarchate’s Archbishop, Metropolitan Archbishop Constantin, and formed a new synod in
2003, with the Alexandrian Exarchate subsuming the Orthodox Archdiocese of America and forming one Church.
Archbishop Anthony (Bondi) of New York then became the new Metropolitan Archbishop of this Church in 2007.
Immediately, Archbishop Anthony began the process of leading the Orthodox Archdiocese into communion with
the ROCOR, submitting to their synod and establishing the Western Rite Vicarate. This was done with the
understanding that all ordinations would be received as valid and all bishops would be received in episcopal
orders, but only allowed to function as monastic Archimandrites and Abbots.

In 2013, after many years of awaiting the ROCOR to honor its original agreement with the Archdiocese, the Holy
Synod of the ROCOR moved to suspend the Western Rite, laicize many priests, and to retire both Bp. Jerome and
to renege on all promises to the bishops of the synod. This canonical declaration identified several areas of alleged
“impropriety” on the part of the ROCOR Western Rite, effectively shutting down the Western Rite Vicariate for
a time. The Archdiocese’s Synod saw that this had been the intent from the beginning, and that there was no hope
in resolving these difficulties, due to bigger political pressures inside and outside of the ROCOR. Knowing that
they had entered the relationship in good faith, and maintaining their belief in the equality of bishops, they
withdrew from the ROCOR and resumed their previous canonical structure, as the Orthodox Archdiocese of
America and the Former Alexandrian Exarchate. After these tragic events, Archbishop Constantin of thrice-
blessed memory died. Until today, the Archdiocese prays for peace and forgiveness for all those involved in this
situation, and extends an open invitation to renew mutual recognition, friendship and communion to the bishops
of the ROCOR and the Moscow Patriarchate.

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ABP JOHN, BP ANTHONY, BP JAMES (JOHNSON), & METROPOLITAN
NICHOLAS

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ABP ANTHONY, ABP CONSTANTINOS, ABP JOHN, & BP JAMES (JOHNSON)

ARCHBISHOP CONSTANIN SPYROU (1938-2013)

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 On Current “Canonicity”

The Greek Church recognized the canonical foundation of the Archdiocese and its relationship with Alexandria.
Archbishop Dionysios was included in SCOBA (Standing Council of Orthodox Bishops in America) meetings,
and his name is found in the roster of canonical Orthodox bishops recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in
America. There was no argument about this in the 1980's. Only after the TOMOS was granted did the Greeks
argue that Alexandria had no right to issue such a TOMOS, and began ignoring the canonicity of the Archdiocese.
The canonical argument against mother patriarchates' ability to grant autocephaly eventually became the
anachronistic and problematic reading of Canon 28 of Chalcedon, which insists that the Ecumenical Patriarchate
has jurisdiction over all territories not within one of the original Pentarchies, and that recognition can only be
issued from Constantinople. Based upon this canonical understanding, the Greek Church has also excluded the
OCA, but less successfully, because the OCA had powerful political backing in Russia and the Greek Church
feared a schism with the Slavic world up until the final break in 2018. However, nothing had changed about the
canonical status of the Archdiocese, legally. It was still the same organization, with the same bishops as before,
with the same canonical authority from the Alexandrian Patriarch. This just shows how political recognition can
be. Now, both the Russian and the Greek Churches say that Alexandria had no authority to issue the TOMOS and
simply ignore it and say that the Archdiocese is "uncanonical," all the while being uncanonically in schism with
one another. Obviously, the Anglican Vicariate is not convinced by this argument, and, truthfully, neither are
these other local churches. They have received, without re-ordination, many of the Archdiocese's clergy in the
paSaint

From the perspective of Rome and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Archdiocese is incontrovertibly valid and
has much clearer claims to unbroken Apostolicity than the “mixed orders” of Anglicanism. On this ground, it is a
strong basis for ecumenical dialogues with other Churches. From the Anglican canonical perspective, our
Succession does not struggle with the doctrinal apostasy and the "broken circuit" of so many Anglican Orders,
which have passed into unfaithful hands and have been administered without theologically clear intentions. From
the Vicariate's perspective, it is a home without mental dissonance and the constant fighting with Continuers over
who controls the locus of Anglo-Catholic identity, Canterbury Communion affiliates on whether or not we are
"Truly Anglican", and a place from whence we can be true to the Ancient Canons and our Anglican Patrimony
without bending the knee to the problems of the English Reformation or contemporary secular capitulation.

Having a TOMOS of Autocephaly from an Ancient Patriarchate means that we are not a "self-established church,"
and that we were not formed in schism. This is, unlike the rest of the Anglican world, a very profound starting
place, where we are not dependent upon canonical loopholes for validity, but are in an unbroken, unschismed
place of Communion with the rest of the Church. Regardless of our current status of recognition in an Orthodox
world already broken by the 2018 schism between the Russian Patriarch and the Ecumenical Patriarch, we find
ourselves in a place that is recognizable to the history of the Church - an apostolic local synod, with saintly
foundations, canonically faithful and consistent with what the Orthodox and Catholic Churches have believed and
practiced for the last 2000 years.

The Archdiocese Today

The Anglican Vicariate is canonically resident in the Orthodox Archdiocese of America (New York), synodally
administered under the omophorion of Archbishop Anthony of New York and pastorally led by Bp. Joseph of
East Asia. Our organization is rooted in the western rite missionary episcopacies established by Orthodox
Churches over the last 150 years for the restoration of the Western Church from the errors of Papalism and
Anglican Liberalism and a general abandonment of Holy Tradition in the West. Our communion consists of
Western Rite, Anglican Rite and Eastern Rite local congregations that share this common history and vision for

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the restoration of Western Christianity through the continuation of the mandate imparted by Saint Tikhon of
Moscow, Saint Raphael of Brooklyn, and Saint John Maximovitch of Shanghai and San Francisco.

We restrict membership to the Joint Synod through a process of invitation, canonical discernment, background
checks, and by rigorous application of the Seven Ecumenical Councils and their canons. Excommunicated,
immoral or irregular men who claim episcopal lineage (even if holding “Orthodox orders”) will not be accepted
as valid bishops. We do not consider groups with uncanonical apostolic succession, such as those claiming descent
through Reformed Anglicanism, the protestant orders of the Low Church Anglican Continuum (such as the
Reformed Episcopal Church), Joseph René Vilatte, Ulric Vernon Herford, or most claims originating with Arnold
Matthews, as candidates for admission into the Vicariate, and insist upon canonical orders recognizable to either
the Eastern Church or, by statement of faith and vesting, to the Roman Catholic Church. Validity of orders, purity
of life, pastoral work and actual ministry are all prerequisites for consideration.

The Archdiocese considers itself in spiritual communion with all of the ancient Orthodox Churches (classically
known as the “Pentarchy”, but now excluding Rome), and would seek mutual love, accountability and
intercommunion with them as our “First Among Equals.” We believe papal heresy, theological and liturgical
innovation, has removed the Latin Church from the center of the uninterrupted Apostolic Deposit, and so we do
not consider ourselves in communion with Roman Catholicism or seek recognition from the Roman Catholic
Church. While Western in our liturgical expression, culture and language, we are fully Orthodox in our theology,
rejecting the Filioque, Papal Supremacy, Universal Jurisdiction, Infallibility, the Roman definition of the
Immaculate Conception, and all the Protestant heresies that resulted from the West’s departure from the Ancient,
Apostolic, Catholic Faith.

Currently, we hold concordats of communion with the Holy Orthodox Metropolia of Western Europe and
America, which was born of the Archeparchy of San Julius, established in 1995 from the Ukrainian Patriarchate
of Kiev under Patriarch Filaret, the Ukrainian Church in America, and by extension through their agreements
with the Orthodox Church of the Gauls, the Communion of Western Orthodox Churches. The Holy
Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ravenna is also fully united in Eucharistic communion with the Archdiocese
as well.

It is our goal to see Western Orthodoxy fully restored in the English-speaking world. We wish for its full
restoration of the Anglican Patrimony, not as an appendage to Byzantine Churches, suspect of heresy and
dampened by suspicious, unsympathetic Eastern bishops, but received as a fully functional, autonomous, and
valid form of Orthodox Christianity, fully claimant to the first one thousand years of the undivided Christian
Tradition. We believe that only through insisting on this continued mission can we be faithful to our saintly
Eastern fathers, who helped to reestablish an Orthodox Western Tradition in the contemporary world.

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