Short Presentation

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Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in the Americas

The Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in the Americas (www.romarch.org), was established as an Episcopate subsequent to the approval of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church in 1935.

The preliminary steps worth noting are: At the Church Congress, held in Detroit, Michigan, on April 25-28, 1929, the priests and representatives of the Romanian Orthodox parishes in the USA and Canada agreed to organize a Missionary Episcopate under the canonical jurisdiction of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The decision was presented to Patriarch Miron (Cristea) of the Romanian Orthodox Church, who gave his approval by the decree no. 10219, dated November the 1st, 1930. The Patriarch entrusted an interim commission with the organization of the Episcopate until the election of a suffragan bishop by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

At the Church Congress held on October 30, 1932, the first Statutes and By-Laws of the Episcopate were formulated. They were ratified by the Holy Synod on June 15, 1933 and officially promulgated on May 8, 1934.

The real date for the establishment of a diocese, according to the cannonical rules of the Orthodox Church, however, must be considered as the date of the canonical election, consecration and installation of the first bishop by the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church.

The first bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Missionary Episcopate in America and Canada was the late bishop Policarp Morusca. Bishop Policarp was born on March 20, 1883 in Cristesti, Alba. In 1925 he entered the monastic life and was appointed Superior of the Hodos-Bodrog monastery in the region of Arad. Upon the recommendation of a delegation of the Romanian Orthodox parishes in America and Canada, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, in its assembley of January 26, 1935, approved his election to the dignity of Bishop. He was consecrated Bishop on March 24, 1935, and on March 25, the Feast of Annunciation, he was invested by Patriarch Miron of Romania as the canonical Bishop of the Romanian parishes in America and Canada. He arrived in Detroit on July 3, 1935 and was enthroned on July 4, 1935, in St. George’s Romanian Orthodox Cathedral of Detroit, Michigan as Bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Missionary Episcopate in America and Canada. The late Bishop Policarp went back to Romania in 1939 and never returned to the United States of America.

In his absence, he left the spiritual care of the diocese to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North America, and the administration to the Diocesan Council headed by the late Archpriest Simion Mihaltean, as Vicar of the Episcopate.


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