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Saint Basil's the American Jurisdiction of Western Rite Orthodoxy
We are Orthodox Catholic Christians. As Orthodox Catholic Christians, we believe in Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, the Redeemer of mankind, accepting Him as our personal Saviour. We believe that Christ is the only true Head of His Orthodox Universal (Catholic) Church. We believe in the eternal Divine Deity of the Triune Godhead, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe that the Nicene Creed is the most succinct, perfect, true profession of the Christian Faith. We believe in the Virgin Birth of Christ, His Passion, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension unto the Father and in His Second Coming.
We believe in the sanctity and perpetual virginity of the Blessed Mother Mary, the Theotokos, but reject the western notion of the Theotokas as being a Co-Redemptrix with her Son, Jesus Christ. We believe the Theotokos to be the Holy Mother of God, the Holy Mother of the God-Man, Jesus Christ, to be the highest in the dignity among all womankind and the greatest of all the Saints.
There is only one Redeemer and He is Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. We believe that the Divine Liturgy, the Holy Mass – the Gregorian of the West and the Byzantine of the East – to be the most perfect forms of Christian worship known to man.
The American Jurisdiction of the Holy Orthodox Church is not a member of the World Council of Churches or the National Council of Churches and does not endorse the latter-day notion of the “branch theory of denominationalism. It does, however, subscribe to the modern Christian concept of cooperative Ecumenical relations with other Faith groups and will cooperate with all in those matters of common concern providing that such cooperative involvement does not compromise the doctrines, traditions and/or practices of the Orthodox Catholic Faith in general and Western Rite Orthodoxy in particular. The American Jurisdiction is totally an autocephalic (autonomous) ecclesiastical religious entity strictly indigenous to the United States and, as such, it is responsible for its own ecclesiastical affairs. With but one exception, it is not subject to any other ecclesiastical entity, foreign or domestic. That one exception being the doctrinal authority of the first seven true Ecumenical Councils which ended at Nicea in 787A.D. and any other true Ecumenical Council which may be convened sometime in the future.
We adhere to and respect the U.S.Constitutional provisions of Freedom of Religion as expressed in the First Amendment. Every American has the right to choose and practice the religion of his or her choice, or to choose no religion at all. Every religious body in America has the right to determine its own body of faith and the free exercise of its own administrational process of internal church government. We firmly support, in theory and practice, the American political tradition of complete separation of Church and State. We believe in One God, One Saviour, One Creed, One Church to which all are invited to be a participating communicant member.
Welcome to St. Basil’s Orthodox Cathedral. We hope that your visit with us was a spiritually rewarding experience and that you will come and visit us soon and often. We invite you to be part of our spiritual pilgrimage. The clergy of St. Basil’s will be happy to provide you with further information concerning the ancient Apostolic Faith of Orthodox Christendom and the American apostolate of Western Rite Orthodoxy. May the Peace of God which passes all understanding be with you now and unto all ages of ages.