Eastern Orthodoxy in North America
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Eastern Orthodox Christianity in North America | ||||||
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Jurisdictions (list) | ||||||
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Monasteries | ||||||
List of monasteries in the United States | ||||||
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Eastern Orthodoxy in North America represents adherents, religious communities, institutions and organizations of
, Central America, and the Caribbean. Estimates of the number of Eastern Orthodox adherents in North America vary considerably depending on methodology (as well as the definition of the term "adherent") and generally fall in range from 3 million to 6 million.The vast majority of Eastern Orthodox Christians in North America are in the U.S. and have roots in countries with current or historically large Orthodox communities, including those of Russian, Turkish, Greek, Arab, Ukrainian, Albanian, Macedonian, Romanian, Bulgarian and Serbian ancestry; a growing number of adherents come from other Eastern European countries and from minorities of converted Americans of Western European, African, Latin American, and East Asian descent.[1]
Statistically,
Early Russian Orthodox presence in the Americas
Russian traders settled in Alaska during the 18th century. In 1740, a Divine Liturgy was celebrated on board a Russian ship off the Alaskan coast. In 1794, the Russian Orthodox Church sent missionaries—among them Saint Herman of Alaska – to establish a formal mission in Alaska. Their missionary endeavors contributed to the conversion of many Alaskan natives to the Orthodox faith. A diocese was established, whose first bishop was Saint Innocent of Alaska. The headquarters of this North American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church was moved from Alaska to California around the mid-19th century.
It was moved again in the last part of the same century, this time to New York. This transfer coincided with a great movement of Eastern Catholics to the Eastern Orthodox Church in the eastern United States. This movement, which increased the numbers of Eastern Orthodox Christians in America, resulted from a conflict between
Orthodox Church in America (OCA)
One of the effects of the persecution and administrative chaos wreaked on the Russian Orthodox Church by the
. The Revolution of 1917 severed large sections of the Russian church—dioceses in America, Japan, and Manchuria, as well as refugees in Europe—from regular contact with the mother church. In 1920A group of bishops who had left their sees in Russia gathered in Sremski-Karlovci, Yugoslavia, and adopted a clearly political monarchist stand. The group further claimed to speak as a synod for the entire "free" Russian church. This group, which to this day includes a sizable portion of the Russian emigration, was formally dissolved in 1922 by Patriarch Tikhon, who then appointed metropolitans Platon and Evlogy as ruling bishops in America and Europe, respectively. Both of these metropolitans continued to entertain relations intermittently with the synod in Karlovci, but neither of them accepted it as a canonical authority. Between the World Wars the Metropolia coexisted and at times cooperated with an independent
After World War II the patriarchate of Moscow made unsuccessful attempts to regain control over these groups. After resuming communication with Moscow in early 1960s, and being granted
Other Eastern Orthodox churches
Today there are many Orthodox churches in the United States and Canada that are still bound to the Ecumenical or Antiochian patriarchates, or other overseas jurisdictions; in some cases these different overseas jurisdictions will have churches in the same U.S. city. However, there are also many "pan-orthodox" activities and organizations, both formal and informal, among Orthodox believers of all jurisdictions. One such organization is the
In June 2002, the
During the past 50 years there have come into existence in North America a number of Western Rite Orthodox parishes. These are sometimes labelled "
There are over 2,000 Orthodox parishes in the United States. Roughly two-thirds of these belong to the OCA, Greek and Antiochian jurisdictions, while the rest are divided among other jurisdictions.[5][6]
Demographics
Churches belonging to the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States
This is a list of all canonical Eastern Orthodox churches in the United States. They all form the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America. These churches are in full communion with one another, and are all officially recognized by one another. The Orthodox Church in America is regarded as canonical and is in full communion with all the other groups, but its self-governance is questioned.
There may be as many as seven million people in the United States who self-identify as Orthodox due to ethnicity or being baptized as children. They may also be married in the church and baptize their children in the church, but they remain unknown to parishes and do not participate in church life. Many recent immigrants who have come to America also self-identify as Orthodox, but never participate in church life. The table below does not include either of these categories, limiting itself to those Orthodox believers who attend parish churches at least often enough to be counted in the official parish statistics. They are listed as "adherents." The "regular attendees" are the number of people who attend church on a typical Sunday.
The listing is according to canonical position in the order of the diptychs (the ceremonial rankings of jurisdictions within the Orthodox Church). For each North American branch (archdiocese or diocese), the table also lists the jurisdiction of which it is part. The Orthodox Church in America is a jurisdiction onto itself.
Parent Jurisdiction | North American branch | Adherents | Regular Attendees | Attendees as % of adherents | Bishops | Monasteries | Parishes | Average Parish Size |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople | Greek Orthodox Archdiocese | 476,878 | 107,289 | 22.5% | 14 | 20 | 525 | 908 |
American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese | 10,457 | 4,936 | 47.2% | 1 | 0 | 79 | 132 | |
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA | 22,362 | 6,857 | 30.7% | 2 | 0 | 101 | 221 | |
Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America | 700 | 185 | 26.4% | 1 | 0 | 2 | 350 | |
Vicariate for the Palestinian/Jordanian Communities
|
6,775 | 815 | 12% | 0 | 9 | 753 | ||
Patriarchate of Antioch
|
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese | 74,527 | 27,256 | 36.6% | 9 | 2 | 247 | 302 |
Moscow Patriarchate | Russian Patriarchal Parishes in the USA
|
12,377 | 1,952 | 15.8% | 1 | 2 | 30 | 413 |
Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia | 27,677 | 8,954 | 32.4% | 8 | 10 | 136 | 204 | |
Serbian Orthodox Church | Serbian Orthodox Eparchies
|
68,760 | 15,331 | 22.3% | 4 | 18 | 163 | 559 |
Romanian Orthodox Church | Romanian Orthodox Metropolis of the Americas | 11,203 | 2,158 | 19.3% | 2 | 1 | 31 | 361 |
Bulgarian Orthodox Church | Bulgarian Orthodox Diocese | 2,212 | 989 | 44.7% | 2 | 2 | 20 | 111 |
Georgian Orthodox Church | Georgian Orthodox parishes in the USA | 920 | 345 | 37.5% | 1 | 1 | 6 | 153 |
Orthodox Church in America | N/A | 84,928 | 33,797 | 39.8% | 9 | 20 | 551 | 154 |
Total | 799,776 | 210,864 | 26.4% | 53 | 70 | 1,860 | 430 |
Groups whose canonical status is contested
This is a list of major churches within the United States which are not in communion with the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America, and are therefore not recognized as canonical by the worldwide Orthodox Church. However, these groups regard themselves as canonical, and may or may not recognize other churches as canonical. Macedonian church recognized by 2022.
Jurisdiction | Adherents | Regular Attendees | Attendees as % of adherents | Bishops | Monasteries | Parishes | Average Parish Size |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Holy Orthodox Church in North America[9] | 2,212 | 1,703 | 77% | 7 | 27 | 82 | |
Macedonian Orthodox Church: American Diocese[10] | 15,513 | 1,696 | 10.9% | 1 | 0 | 20 | 776 |
Total | 17,725 | 3,399 | 19% | 7 | 47 | 377 |
Eastern Orthodoxy in Canada
Adherents of
- Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople — Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America
- Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople — American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese
- Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople — Archdiocese of Canada
- Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople — Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada
- Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch — Archdiocese of North America
- Bulgarian Orthodox Church — Diocese of the USA, Canada and Australia
- Georgian Orthodox Church — Metropolis of Batumi, Lazeti, North America and Canada
- Romanian Orthodox Church — Diocese of Canada
- Russian Orthodox Church — Patriarchial Parishes in Canada
- Russian Orthodox Church — Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
- Serbian Orthodox Church — Eparchy of Canada
- Macedonian Orthodox Church — Diocese of America and Canada
- Orthodox Church in America — Archdiocese of Canada
See also
- Timeline of Eastern Orthodoxy in America
- List of Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions in North America
- List of Eastern Orthodox monasteries in the United States
- Bibliography of Eastern Orthodoxy in the United States
- History of the Eastern Orthodox Church
- Peter E. Gillquist
- Herman of Alaska
- Innocent of Alaska
- John of Shanghai and San Francisco
- Princess Ileana of Romania
- Raphael of Brooklyn
- Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow
- Alexis Toth
References
- ^ FitzGerald 2007, p. 269-279.
- ^ Leonhardt, David (May 13, 2011). "Faith, Education and Income". The New York Times. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ^ US Religious Landscape Survey: Diverse and Dynamic (PDF), The Pew Forum, February 2008, p. 85, retrieved September 17, 2012
- ^ "A History and Introduction of the Orthodox Church in America".
- KiB)
- ^ "Eastern Orthodox in the USA 2021". Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ISBN 978-1-935317-23-4.
- ISBN 978-1-935317-23-4.
- Greek Old Calendarists. The HOCNA doesn't recognize most Orthodox Churches worldwide, viewing them as heretical. The HOCNA also isn't recognized by most Orthodox Churches worldwide, being viewed as schismatic.
- ^ Granted autonomy by Serbia in 1959, unilaterally declared autocephaly in 1967. Its autocephaly isn't recognized by most Orthodox Churches, while it still recognizes mainstream Orthodox Churches.
- ^ 2011 National Household Survey: Data tables - Religion (108)
Sources
- FitzGerald, Thomas (2007). "Eastern Christianity in the United States". The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. pp. 269–279. ISBN 9780470766392.
- Vuković, Sava (1998). History of the Serbian Orthodox Church in America and Canada 1891–1941. Kragujevac: Kalenić.