Author: Claudiu Padurean
November 26, 2009
Romanian Orthodox Schism in the USA, almost at the finish line
From: http://www.romanialibera.ro – unofficial translation
Representatives of the two Romanian Orthodox church structures in the United States of America are on the verge of putting an end to the schism which has brought discord to this community since the installation of the communist regime.
The two Dioceses of Romanian Orthodox in the US, most of whom emigrated from Transylvania, are about to be reunited in a common Metropolitanate. The decision to reunite the Romanian Orthodox communities in the US under the same jurisdiction could be taken as soon as in a few weeks time.
The proposal to establish a Romanian Orthodox Metropolitanate for North America emerges from a dialogue commission composed of representatives of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of the US and Canada, headquartered in Michigan and under the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Patriarchate in Bucharest [BOR], and representatives of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate from the Vatra, Illinois, which is under the jurisdiction of the American Orthodox Church [OCA]. The representatives of the Archdiocese who met these past few days, analyzed and were in agreement with the final proposal made by the ‘Vatra’ Romanian Orthodox Episcopate. An official document remains to be adopted in a Dialogue Commission meeting, which will meet in the coming weeks. The Holy Synod would then validate the creation of the North American Metropolitanate, which after more than half a century will reunite the Romanian Orthodox from across the ocean. Already, some voices in the BOR Holy Synod have expressed their agreement with this solution.
The two Dioceses now shepherd the descendants of those Romanians who settled across the ocean. The first Romanian Orthodox parish in North America dates from 1902 and it was founded by Romanians from Transylvania, under the former Austro-Hungarian monarchy. The first Romanian Orthodox Deanery dates from 1912 and was comprised of 16 parishes, under a Russian Orthodox Episcopate of North American. In 1922 the Romanian-Americans asked that their own Episcopate be formed. The Holy Synod approved a missionary Episcopate and the first Bishop, Polycarp Morusca, the brother-in-law of of the future Metropolitan Nicolae Balan of Sibiu, was named in 1935. In 1939, Bishop Polycarp returned to Romania, from which he was unable to ever leave again, and this because of WWII and then because of communism. In 1950, BOR sent Andrei Moldovan in his place as Bishop The clergy in the US refused him and they elected Valerian Trifa as Vicar- Bishop. This is how the Romanian Orthodox schism began in North America. Valerian Trifa was consecrated Bishop by Ukrainian Hierarchs and affiliated the Episcopate to the Russian Orthodox Metropolia in the US, run by tsarist clerics, who emigrated because of Lenin’s persecutions. As a response to this, the Romanian Orthodox Patriarchate created a new Episcopate headquartered in Michigan. Also as a response to this, BOR raised its American Episcopate to the level of Archdiocese. After decades of tension, the fall of communism brought about the beginning of negotiations among the Romanians in the US. Now, representatives of the Archdiocese in Michigan headed by His Eminence Archbishop Nicolae, and representatives of the Vatra Episcopate headed by His Eminence Archbishop Irineu, seem to have arrived at an accord.