Western Rite Orthodox Faith in America
Holy Orthodox Church – American Jurisdiction A Brief History
The Holy Orthodox Church, American Jurisdiction, though restructured in 1974,was originally established as the American Orthodox Church by the Russian Orthodox Archdiocese of Brooklyn in 1932, under the episcopacy of Archbishop Aftimios Ofiesh for the communicants of Western Rite Orthodoxy.
Aftimios’ mission, assigned him by the Moscow Patriarchate, was to unite the various ethnic-Orthodox jurisdictions in America into a single American jurisdiction. The unification effort failed due to both foreign and domestic influences, and the Russian Church directed Aftimios to abandon the mission, disband the diocese of Brooklyn, and turn over its cathedral and assets to the Syrian Orthodox Church.
Aftimios had established the Orthodox Western (Gregorian) Rite in America in January 1932, and ordained former Episcopal Church priest William Albert Nichols to the Orthodox priesthood. With the understanding that he would follow the Gregorian Rite, Aftimios assigned him as pastor of the very first canonical Orthodox Western Rite parish in America located in New York city. As directed, Aftimios began closing down the affairs of the Brooklyn archdiocese. Among His last actions before turning over the archdiocese to the Syrian Orthodox Church, Aftimios, assisted by bishops Joseph Zuk and Sophronios Bashira, consecrated Father Nichols to the episcopacy on September 30, 1932. They named him as archbishop of the newly-established Western Rite archdiocese under the identity of the American Orthodox Church. Father Nichols took the name “Ignatius” as his Episcopal name.
The Society of Clerks Secular of St. Basil (S.S.B.), commonly known as the Basilian Fathers, was founded by Aftimios and Ignatius as the missionary arm of the newly-formed Western Rite apostolate, with Ignatius as the superior-general. Eventually, as Ignatius’ health failed, Father Tyler Turner, S.S.B., was elected superior-general of the Order and was subsequently consecrated in 1939. Taking the religious name “Alexander”, he succeeded Ignatius as head of the Western Rite archdiocese of the American Orthodox Church. In 1960, of the 19 then active members of the Order of Basilian Fathers, four were incardinated as priests of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, then led by H.E. Metropolitan-Archbishop Antony Bashir. Two years previously, the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch had authorized Abp. Bashir to establish a Vicariate for the Western Rite communicants. The Basilian Order, as such, did not become part of the Antiochian (Syrian) Vicariate; it would remain an autonomous body unto itself committed to the Western Rite apostolate.
Nearly two years after Abp. Alexander’s death, Father William Francis Forbes, S.S. B., was elected as the superior-general of the Order in 1973. In the summer of 1974, following a tenure of 15 years with the Syrian jurisdiction, Father Forbes withdrew from the Vicariate to give full-time attention to the Western Rite apostolate of the Basilian Fathers. On October 20, 1974, two bishops within the Aftimios-Ignatius line of succession, Abp. Thomas Jude Baumler and Bishop John Chrysostom Martin, consecrated Father Forbes to the episcopacy (taking the name Francis), thus restoring the original line of apostolic succession to the Basilian Order and the American Orthodox Church. Bishop Francis sold the motherhouse in New York, and moved the entire operation of the Order and the Jurisdiction to Antioch, a suburb of Nashville, TN, where the Cathedral of St. Basil is located.
Beliefs: The church is thoroughly Orthodox in faith and sacramental practice. It accepts the original Nicene Creed and doctrinal affirmation of the first seven Ecumenical Councils. The majority of the parishes are Western Rite, although the Byzantine Rite is allowed, few parishes choose to follow it.
Organization: The ecclesiastical organization of the church is vested in the Holy Synod, which currently has seven members. The Synod has authority over its Metropolitan Archdiocese of Nashville, the Diocese of Florida, Diocese of New York and the Basilian Fathers. The American (Western Rite) Jurisdiction is responsible for its own ecclesiastical affairs and is not subject to any other Orthodox body, foreign or domestic. It has no connection with any other group(s) claiming to be American Orthodox and/or deriving authority from either Archbishops +Aftimios, +Ignatius, +Alexander, or +Francis