Bulgarian Diocese of the Orthodox Church in America

The Bulgarian Diocese of the Orthodox Church in America (officially the Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Church Diocese of the United States of America and Canada[1]) is one of three ethnic dioceses of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). Its territory includes parishes, monasteries, and missions located in six states in the United States, as well as one province in Canada – California, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio, Ontario, and Washington, D.C. The former Archbishop of the diocese was the Most Reverend Kyrill (Yonchev), who also served as the Archbishop of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania. After his repose on June 17, 2007, Metropolitan Herman served as locum tenens of the diocese until the election of Archimandrite Alexander (Golitzin) on October 4, 2011. On May 5, 2012, he was consecrated as bishop of the diocese during a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at Saint George Orthodox Cathedral in Rossford, OH.

The states/provinces in which the Bulgarian Diocese has jurisdiction.

History

Established in 1963 under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), the diocese had its origins in the decision of Metropolitan Andrew (Petkov), then head of the Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Diocese of the USA, Canada and Australia (named at that time the Bulgarian Diocese of North and South America and Australia), in order to regularize his relations with his mother church, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, with whom he had broken communications with after World War II, and subsequently was elected to the rank of metropolitan.[2]

In the late 1950s, Andrew petitioned to be accepted into the Russian Metropolia (now known as the Orthodox Church in America) but had been declined by them for unclear reasons. In 1963, he petitioned and was approved by the Holy Synod of the Church of Bulgaria to be readmitted to the Bulgarian episcopacy and continued to lead Bulgarian Orthodoxy in America. One of his clergy, Archimandrite Kyrill (Yonchev), disagreed with his decision and was consecrated by the bishops of ROCOR to serve as head of the Bulgarian Diocese in Exile. Due partly to Metropolitan Andrew's advanced age, Bishop Kyrill persuaded many Bulgarian parishes to accept his authority.[2]

In 1976, Bishop Kyrill and his diocese left ROCOR and joined the Orthodox Church in America, thus creating its Bulgarian Diocese.[3]

Notes and references
  1. "Constitution of the Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Diocese of the United States of America and Canada" (PDF).
  2. Surrency, Archim. Serafim. The Quest for Orthodox Unity in America: A History of the Orthodox Church in North America in the Twentieth Century. Saints Boris and Gleb Press, 1973.
  3. Liberovsky, Alexis. "Synopsis of the 5th All-American Council". Archived from the original on 2007-02-02. Retrieved 2007-01-01.

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