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American Orthodox Catholic Church -Propheta JurisdictionThe Ethiopian Orthodox Coptic ChurchOf North and South America
INTRODUCTION
In speaking of the history and vision of The American Orthodox Catholic Church - ProphetaJurisdiction, known also as The American Orthodox Church; it is necessary to reflect uponher foundations in the Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow and all Russia. Further validatingthis Orthodox Communion, and of more recent lineage, in the Succession coming from theAmerican arm of The Coptic Orthodox Church of Ethiopia.The AOCC, in her presently ministering form, was given her life in 1964 as a separate andautocephalous jurisdiction, a continuation of the autonomy granted to the initial AmericanOrthodox Church. This Communion was chartered in the State of New York in 1965 byPatriarch Walter Myron Propheta of Blessed Memory. From the time of St. Propheta until thepresent, the AOCC has evolved from a long and storied past.The current Hierarchs, Clergy and Seminarians of this Church have begun an attempt atbreathing new life into an all but forgotten unique Orthodox legacy and the heritage of St.Walter Propheta; re-establishing and making relevant for these times a Communion dormantfor far too long.The AOCC, then, has taken it upon herself the answering of the joy filled calling of implanting a truly American and all embracing Orthodoxy, as did our founding Holy Fathers:branching out into the Liturgical expressions of both Eastern and Western OrthodoxChristianity.
 
2Also; as a result of this Church's roots in the ancient Patriarchate of Alexandria: because of missionary activity from this original center of the Christian Church reaching the Celtic Isles,a Celtic Orthodox presence has been established in this Jurisdiction.The goal of all that is undertaken, like our Holy Father St. Propheta, is to make right faith andworship an empowering characteristic of personal and communal spirituality: this within thebroader scope of returning to communion with the Body of Christ, with the Father, and withone another those who, for whatever reason, have been disenfranchised from their faithcommunities of origin.A grand undertaking, yes; but it is one that can and will be accomplished through therestoration of the place of and the role this Church once held in the broader picture of American Church History: through maintaining absolute Liturgical purity, and propagatinguncompromised Apostolic teaching.As is necessary, then, in all endeavors undertaken on any plane of life; whether this be in therealms of the sacred or secular, it is necessary to understand the history of the past has aprofound and a pasting impact on the present and the future.It is in this spirit that The American Orthodox Catholic Church - Propheta Jurisdiction beginsan examination of her history and vision; simultaneously paralleling it with the story of American Orthodoxy which is her past, present and future.
THE CHURCH OF RUSSIA
The first missionaries from the Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow and all Russia, with thepermission of Empress Catherine II, stepped upon the shores of the North AmericanContinent in 1794; establishing a foundation on Kodiak Island, and building mission outpostsin what is now the State of Alaska. Hierarch after Hierarch was consecrated in Successionfrom the Patriarchal Seat and sent to serve and administer these parishes, Clergy and faithful.One such Bishop was Tikhon Bellavin, a holy Martyr for both the Church and for Orthodoxy,and a Canonized Saint: Metropolitan Archbishop of The Russian Orthodox Church inAmerica during the years 1895-1917; until he was recalled to Moscow to kead the re-established Russian Patriarchate.In 1917 Patriarch Tikhon and the Holy Synod elected a Presbyter from the Patriarchate of Antioch, Abdullah (Aftimios) Ofiesh, for consecration to the Episcopacy. Ofiesh had come tothe UNited States to minister under the Omophora of the Exarch for all people of Arabdescent in this country, Archbishop St. Raphael Hawaweeny: Hawaweeny having beenhimself consecrated as Hierarch by St. Tikhon. Ofiesh was assigned to serve as Dean of theCathedral of St. Nicholas in New York City.The Consecration of Fr. Aftimios as Bishop was celebrated at that very same Cathedral onMay 31, 1917 by the laying on of hands from Archbishops Evdokim Mischersky of TheRussian Church in America, Alexander Nemolovsky, Russian Orthodox Exarch for Canadaand the Aleutian Islands, and Bishop Stephen Dzubai, of the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In this Sacramental act was passed to Hierarch Aftimios the validityand canonicity of Russian Orthodoxy.
 
3The mandate subsequently given by Patriarch Tikhon to the new Bishop was toi found, underSynodal Constitution from the Mother Church, an autonomous American Orthodox Church.A decade later, this call was to be confirmed.In that year, 1927, Metropolitan Platon, spiritual leader of the Russian Orthodox Church inAmerica and a successor to Patriarch St. Tikhon in this country gave now Archbishop Ofieshcare and responsibility; reiterating the missionary challenge of St. Tikhon, of building anAmerican Church for the Orthodox population of this country who were not beingsatisfactorily served by ethnic Orthodoxy; as well as those from other Denominations of theOne, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church who might come to wish to associate themselveswith an autonomous and independent American Orthodox Church.The eventual fulfillment of this ministry given to Hierarch Aftimios was fully intended to be anon-ethnic, all embracing expression of the early and Apostolic Church. As the years afterthis would unfold, other Bishops from ethnic Churches would cooperate with one another inconsecrating Hierarchs and ordaining Clergy for their respective Jurisdictions, thussignificantly contributing to the building of American Orthodoxy. Most notable among theseare the Churches of Greece and the Ukraine, the Church of Albania, and the Greek Patriarchate of Alexandria.Why speak of these events in relation to The American Orthodox Catholic Church - ProphetaJurisdiction? It is not only from this Russian heritage, but also from the other Churches andPatriarchates, given to every other Bishop in the history and lineage of American Orthodoxy,including our Holy Father Archbishop Walter Myron Propheta, that the AOCC claims theabsolute legitimacy and validity of her descendency. Hierarch Propheta will be spoken of inupcoming essays.As was stated in the Introduction to these reflections, outlining the general foundations of theAOCC; it is not solely the Russian Church contributing to the identity of the AOCC. In thenext discussion the lineage from the Coptic Orthodox Church of Ethiopia will be examined.
THE ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX COPTIC CHURCH
Of more recent dating, and of equal importance to the history of the presently ministeringAOCC - Propheta Jurisdiction is the Apostolic Lineage given from the Coptic Church of Ethiopia.The first Hierarch to be spoken of here is Abuna Basilios, consecrated to the Episcopacy in1951 by Patriarch Kyrillos VI and Bishop Youasab of the Coptic Church of Egypt. Upon theOrthodox Clergy and faithful of Ethiopia being granted their autocphaly, Basilios wasconsecrated as their Patriarch.In the decade of the 1950's, under Abuna Basilios, came a Fr. Gabre Mikael Cristos, (MichaelHaithman); originally ordained to the Presbyterate by Archbishop Hubert Augustus Rogers of The North American Old Roman Catholic Church.It is also within this timeframe that gabre Mikael traveled to Ethiopia to bring a group of Seminarians to the United States so the EOCC would have a solidly founded presence outsideEthiopia.
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