American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese
Encyclopedia
The American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese or American Carpatho-Ruthenian Orthodox Diocese is a diocese
of the Ecumenical Patriarchate with 78 parishes in the United States
and Canada
. It was led by the late Metropolitan
Nicholas Smisko
of Amissos (1936-2011). Though the diocese is directly responsible to the Patriarchate, it is under the spiritual supervision of the Primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
.
s (Rusyns) immigrated to North America
, and established Greek Catholic Church
parishes. However, the predominant Catholic hierarchy were of the Latin Church
and did not readily make the Ruthenians welcome. Differences between the Eastern Rite Catholics and the bishops of the predominant Latin Rite Catholics, especially regarding a married priesthood and the form of the Divine Liturgy
or Mass
, led some of them to withdraw from the Catholic Church and become Eastern Orthodox. A particular opponent of Eastern Rite practices was John Ireland
the Archbishop of St. Paul, Minnesota
from 1888-1918, who refused to permit Ruthenian clergy to function in his archdiocese.
The diocese was founded in 1938 when a group of 37 Ruthenian Eastern Catholic parishes, under the leadership of Fr. Orestes Chornock, were received into the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The year before, this group had officially renounced the Unia with the Holy See
, primarily in protest over the Liturgical Latinisation
occurring in their church life. A particularly divisive issue was the 1929 papal decree Cum data fuerit issued by Pope Pius XI
which mandated that Eastern Rite clergy in the US were to be celibate.
This move actually marked the second North American
group of Ruthenian parishes to return to Orthodoxy. The first had been led by St. Alexis of Wilkes-Barre into the jurisdiction of the Russian Metropolia
in the 1890s. Notably, this second large-scale conversion to Orthodoxy by Carpatho-Russians was directed toward Constantinople rather than to the Russian presence in North America. This was primarily motivated out of concerns of Russification, which had occurred with the previous move. As such, rather than being absorbed into the body of Russian churches, and so being compelled to adopt Muscovite traditions, the ACROD was permitted by Constantinople to keep its distinctive Rusyn practices. Thus, the hymnography
and liturgical forms
, including the particular form of Old Church Slavonic
used in the divine services
, were preserved, while certain Latin Rite practices, such as including the Filioque clause
in the Nicene Creed
, were removed.
in Johnstown, Pennsylvania
. The bulk of the diocese's parishes are in 13 states in the eastern United States, with two parishes and two missions in Ontario
; nearly half of the parishes are located in Pennsylvania
.
There used to be two monasteries in the diocese: the Monastery of the Annunciation
, in Tuxedo Park, New York
which closed in the early 1990s and the Monastery of the Holy Cross, at Beallsville
which dissolved in the late 1990s when its abbot
embraced Eastern Rite Catholicism.
The diocese is a member of Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America
.
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of the Ecumenical Patriarchate with 78 parishes in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It was led by the late Metropolitan
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
Nicholas Smisko
Nicholas Smisko
Nicholas was metropolitan bishop of Amissos and Primate of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the USA.-Early life:...
of Amissos (1936-2011). Though the diocese is directly responsible to the Patriarchate, it is under the spiritual supervision of the Primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, headquartered in New York City, is an eparchy of the Church of Constantinople. Its current primate is Archbishop Demetrios of America.-About the Archdiocese:...
.
History
At the end of the nineteenth century, many RuthenianRusyns
Carpatho-Rusyns are a primarily diasporic ethnic group who speak an Eastern Slavic language, or Ukrainian dialect, known as Rusyn. Carpatho-Rusyns descend from a minority of Ruthenians who did not adopt the use of the ethnonym "Ukrainian" in the early twentieth century...
s (Rusyns) immigrated to North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, and established Greek Catholic Church
Greek Catholic Church
The Greek Catholic Church consists of the Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine liturgical tradition and are thus in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope.-List of Greek Catholic Churches:...
parishes. However, the predominant Catholic hierarchy were of the Latin Church
Latin Church
The Latin Church is the largest particular church within the Catholic Church. It is a particular church not on the level of the local particular churches known as dioceses or eparchies, but on the level of autonomous ritual churches, of which there are 23, the remaining 22 of which are Eastern...
and did not readily make the Ruthenians welcome. Differences between the Eastern Rite Catholics and the bishops of the predominant Latin Rite Catholics, especially regarding a married priesthood and the form of the Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, use the same term...
or Mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
, led some of them to withdraw from the Catholic Church and become Eastern Orthodox. A particular opponent of Eastern Rite practices was John Ireland
John Ireland (archbishop)
John Ireland was the third bishop and first archbishop of Saint Paul, Minnesota . He became both a religious as well as civic leader in Saint Paul during the turn of the century...
the Archbishop of St. Paul, Minnesota
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. It is led by the prelature of an archbishop which administers the archdiocese from the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis...
from 1888-1918, who refused to permit Ruthenian clergy to function in his archdiocese.
The diocese was founded in 1938 when a group of 37 Ruthenian Eastern Catholic parishes, under the leadership of Fr. Orestes Chornock, were received into the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The year before, this group had officially renounced the Unia with the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, primarily in protest over the Liturgical Latinisation
Liturgical Latinisation
Liturgical Latinisation, also known as Latinisation, is the process by which liturgical and other aspects of the Churches of Eastern Christianity were altered to resemble more closely the practices of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church...
occurring in their church life. A particularly divisive issue was the 1929 papal decree Cum data fuerit issued by Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...
which mandated that Eastern Rite clergy in the US were to be celibate.
This move actually marked the second North American
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
group of Ruthenian parishes to return to Orthodoxy. The first had been led by St. Alexis of Wilkes-Barre into the jurisdiction of the Russian Metropolia
Orthodox Church in America
The Orthodox Church in America is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in North America. Its primate is Metropolitan Jonah , who was elected on November 12, 2008, and was formally installed on December 28, 2008...
in the 1890s. Notably, this second large-scale conversion to Orthodoxy by Carpatho-Russians was directed toward Constantinople rather than to the Russian presence in North America. This was primarily motivated out of concerns of Russification, which had occurred with the previous move. As such, rather than being absorbed into the body of Russian churches, and so being compelled to adopt Muscovite traditions, the ACROD was permitted by Constantinople to keep its distinctive Rusyn practices. Thus, the hymnography
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
and liturgical forms
Christian liturgy
A liturgy is a set form of ceremony or pattern of worship. Christian liturgy is a pattern for worship used by a Christian congregation or denomination on a regular basis....
, including the particular form of Old Church Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic or Old Church Slavic was the first literary Slavic language, first developed by the 9th century Byzantine Greek missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius who were credited with standardizing the language and using it for translating the Bible and other Ancient Greek...
used in the divine services
Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, use the same term...
, were preserved, while certain Latin Rite practices, such as including the Filioque clause
Filioque clause
Filioque , Latin for "and the Son", is a phrase found in the form of Nicene Creed in use in the Latin Church. It is not present in the Greek text of the Nicene Creed as originally formulated at the First Council of Constantinople, which says only that the Holy Spirit proceeds "from the Father":The...
in the Nicene Creed
Nicene Creed
The Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in the year 325.The Nicene Creed has been normative to the...
, were removed.
Organization
In 2006, the ACROD had 14,372 members in 78 parishes and five missions. Besides these, the ACROD operates Christ the Saviour SeminaryChrist the Saviour Seminary
Christ the Saviour Seminary is the seminary for the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese , a self-governing diocese within the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. It is located in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.-History:...
in Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States, west-southwest of Altoona, Pennsylvania and east of Pittsburgh. The population was 20,978 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Cambria County...
. The bulk of the diocese's parishes are in 13 states in the eastern United States, with two parishes and two missions in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
; nearly half of the parishes are located in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
There used to be two monasteries in the diocese: the Monastery of the Annunciation
Annunciation
The Annunciation, also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary or Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Virgin Mary, that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus the Son of God. Gabriel told Mary to name her...
, in Tuxedo Park, New York
Tuxedo Park, New York
Tuxedo Park is a village in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 731 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined...
which closed in the early 1990s and the Monastery of the Holy Cross, at Beallsville
Beallsville, Maryland
Beallsville, Maryland is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Maryland. It is a small community outside of Poolesville, Maryland.- Darby Store :...
which dissolved in the late 1990s when its abbot
Abbot
The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
embraced Eastern Rite Catholicism.
The diocese is a member of Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America
Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America
The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America is an Eastern Orthodox organization of church Hierarchs in North and Central America....
.