Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 6.djvu/859

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773

GREEK


773


GREEK


Church among the Ruthenians of America, succeeded in arousing the Holy Governing S3'nod of Russia to the opportunit.y to spread Orthodoxy and Panslavism among the; Ruthenians in America, and became a most bitter opponent of Catholicism. He was made a mitred protopriest for his efforts and is said to have been the cause of nearly 10,000 secessions from the Greek Catholic to the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1900 the whole Orthodox movement was put under the direction of the "Orthodox Missionarj- Society of All-Russia", which, together with the Holy Synod, supplies extensive funds and numerous priests for its development here. In 1902 a fine Russian cathedral (St. Nicholas) was built in New York City, and Rus- sian churches have begun to spring up everywhere in the Atlantic States, particularly in Pennsylvania. Numerous priests and lower clergy were brought from Russia, a theological seminary opened in Minneapolis, a monastery in South Canaan, Pennsylvania, the rites of the fireek Church were celebrated with a magnifi- cence and s|iIendour before unknown in America, and the Church itself put on a solid basis. In 1908 the whole United States and Canada were divided into five great hlagochinnia, or deaneries: New York, Pennsylvania, Pittsburg, the Western States, and Canada, each one having from ten to twenty churches, and there was besides the Diocese of Alaska. In March, 1909, the Russian Church adopted an elabo- rate Constitution (Xorinalnti Ustav) of sixty-four paragraphs, defining the rights of clergy, laity, and parishes, thus creating a local canon law for the United States, subject to the Holy Synod in Russia. This is the more remarkable when there are but few- Russians (from Russia) in the United States. The latest figures (1909) for the Russian Orthodox Church in America are: Russians, 7974; Galician Ruthen- ians, 11,045; Hungarian Ruthenians, 5820; Buko- vinians, 4180; making a total of 29,019. Besides these there are in Alaska: Indians, 1891 ; Aleutians, 2149; Eskimo, 3666. The Orthodox Russian clergy (1909) consist of one archbishop, one bishop, 2 archi- mandrites, 2 protopriests, 2 hegumens, 15 monastic priests, 70 secular jiriests, 2 deacons, and 40 cantors. Three of these are in Canada, and fifteen in Alaska. They have 60 churches in the United States, 10 in Canada, and 17 churches and chapels in Alaska. They have a large church society very much like the Ruthenian ones, the " Pravoslavnoe Obshchestvo Vzaimopomoshchi" (Orthodox Mutual Aid Society), with 133 brotherhoods and 3950 members. Two church journals are published, "Amerikansky Pra- voslavny Viestnik" (American Orthodox Messenger), in Great Russian, and "Svit" (Light), in Ruthenian. Their tone is bitter towards Greek Catholics and in many Uniat parishes they excite dissension.

II. Greek Hellenic Orthodox Church. — Greek immigration was confined to the hundreds until 1890; the immigration figures for 1905-08 are: Greece, 77,607; Turkey, 19,032. The first Greek church (Holy Trinity) was opened in New York City in 1891 by Rev. P. Ferentinos from Greece. Subsequently the new church on East 72nd Street was acquired, in which they have erected one of the finest Greek in- teriors — the altar, iconostasis and throne being of Pentelic marble. The Greeks have begun to build fine churches. There are (1909) about 130,000 Greeks in the United States, chiefly in the Eastern and Middle States, and they publish eighteen newspapers, including two dailies. They have 32 churches in the United States and 2 in Canada, some — like Holy Trinity of Lowell, Mass., and Holy Trinity of New York City — of consiilerable importance. Their clergy consist of 7 archimandrites, 3 monks, and 25 secular priests, but the churches are in the main governed by the lay trustees and particularly by the president of the board. Of these Greek clergy, 15 are subject to the (Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and 20


to the Holy Synod of Athens. This circiunstancc and the fact that a part of the Greeks come from the Turkish Empire and the other part from the Kingdom of Greece have given rise to many dissensions and pre- vented the nomination of a Greek bishop for the I'nited States, neither the patriarch nor the Synod wishing to cede such an appointment to the other. On the other hand, they both decline to admit or recognize the authority of the Russian bishops here.

III. Syro-Arablvn Orthodox Church. — These are Syrians of the schismatic Greek Rite who use the Arabic language in their liturgj-. They are nearly all from the Patriarchate of Antioch, which just now is quasi-schismatic towards Constantinople but closely affiliated with Russia. They of course began to immi- grate to the United States at the time that the other SjTians, Melchites, and Maronites, came. The Rus- sians have greatly assisted them in building churches and establishing missions here, and their bishop, Raphael of Brooklyn, is a Syrian educated in Russia. The first Syro- .Arabian church (St. Nicholas) was built in Brooklyn in 1902, and has since become their cathedral church. Their clergy consist of the Syro- Arabian bishop and twelve priests, of whom three are monks. They have (1909) churches in the following localities: Brooklyn and Glens Falls, New York; Boston, Worcester, and Lawrence, Massachusetts; Pittsburg, Johnstown, and Wilkesbarre, Pennsylva- nia; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Kearney, Nebraska; Beaumont, Texas. There are said to be "about 50,000 Orthodox Syrians in the United States, but they are quite scattered. They have frequent dissensions with their fellow-Syrians, the Melchites and Maronites, who are Uniats. They publish two Arabic news- papers in the interest of the Orthodox Church, and have a number of societies in New York and elsewhere.

IV. Servian Orthodox Church. — This is com- posed of immigrants from Servia, Dalmatia, Hungary, and Montenegro. They all speak that southern Slavic language, the Servian, which is identical with the Croatian, except that it is written in the Russian alphabet to which are atlded two or three letters un- known to Russian, whilst the Croatian (used by the Roman Catholics) is written with Roman letters. The Russian, the Servian, and the Bulgarian Churches use the Old Slavonic language in the Mass and church offices. The Servians are mainly in Pennsyl- vania and the West, and the first church was built by the Archimandrite Sebastian Dabovitch in Jackson, Cal. (1894). The Servian Orthodox Church is closely affiliated to the Russian Church in this country, except that some of their churches do not recognize the juris- diction or authority of the Russian archbishop. There are about 70,000 "or 80,000 Servians in the United States, from Pennsylvania to California, Wyoming, and Washington. Their clergy consist of one archi- mandrite, five monks, and four secular priests, and they have churches in Chicago, Illinois; Pittsburg, McKeesport, Wilmerding, .Steelton, and Johnstown, Pennsylvania; Kansas City, Kansas; Denver, Colo- rado; Jackson and Los Angeles, California; Butte, Montana; St. Louis, Missouri. They also publish three Servian papers, and have several church socie- ties, the chief one "Srbobrar".

V. Rumanian Orthodox Church. — About half the Orthodox Rumanians in the United States come from Rumania and half from Transylvania in Hungary. Their immigration has been all within the past decade, both in the United States and in Canada. They are also under divided jurisdiction, those from Rumania being under the Holy Synod of Rumania and those from Transylvania under the Metropolitan of Her- maimstadt. There are about ,30.000 ( )rth()(l()x Riuna- nians at the present time (1909) in America, including Canada. Their first church was St. Marv's, built in 1907 at Cleveland, Ohio. They have, besides several missionary stations, five churches situated at the