List of primates of the Orthodox Church in America


This article is a list of primates of the Orthodox Church in America .
Prior to the early 1920s, all Russian Orthodox Christians on the North American continent were under the direct jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church. This North American diocese was ruled by a bishop or archbishop assigned by the Russian Church.
After the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, communication between the Russian Orthodox Church and the churches of North America was almost completely cut off. In 1920, Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow directed all Russian Orthodox churches outside of Russia to govern themselves autonomously until regular communication and travel could be resumed. In addition, a handful of Orthodox communities that had been under the Russians but with a non-Russian background turned to Orthodox churches in their respective homelands for pastoral care and governance.
After declaring the autonomy of the North American Diocese in February 1924, Archbishop Platon became the first Metropolitan of All America and Canada. Since that time, the primate of the OCA has been known as Metropolitan of All America and Canada, in addition to his role as the archbishop of an OCA diocese. When the OCA was granted autocephaly by the Russian Church in 1970, it was renamed the Orthodox Church in America, and the ruling Metropolitan was granted the additional title of His Beatitude.
NamePlace of birthBirth nameJurisdictionDates of ruleNotes
Joasaph Strazhkov, Kashinsky DistrictIvan Ilyich BolotovBishop of Kodiak, Auxiliary of the Irkutsk Diocese1799Joasaph was elected bishop in 1796, but news did not reach him until 1798. He returned to Irkutsk and was consecrated in 1799, but died during his return voyage to Alaska.
Innocent Anginskoye, Verkholensk DistrictIvan Evseyevich Popov-VeniaminovBishop of Kamchatka, the Kurile and Aleutian Islands1840–50
Innocent Anginskoye, Verkholensk DistrictIvan Evseyevich Popov-VeniaminovArchbishop of Kamchatka, the Kurile and Aleutian Islands1850–68
Peter Saratov OblastTheodore EkaterinovskyBishop of Novoarkhangelsk, Auxiliary of the Kamchatka Diocese1859–66
Paul Yeniseysk ProvincePaul PopovBishop of Novoarkhangelsk, Auxiliary of the Kamchatka Diocese1866–70With the Alaska purchase in 1867, Alaska became a territory of the United States.
John Kaluga, RussiaStephen MitropolskyBishop of the Aleutians and Alaska1870–77
Nestor Arkangelsk, RussiaBaron Nikolai Pavlovich ZassBishop of the Aleutians and Alaska1878–82Following the death of Bishop Nestor in 1882, the Diocese of the Aleutians and Alaska fell under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg until 1887.
Vladimir Senkovka, Poltava OblastVasily Grigorievich Sokolovsky-AvtonomovBishop of the Aleutians and Alaska1887–91
Nicholas Bishop of the Aleutians and Alaska1891Bishop Nicholas was transferred to another see before traveling to North America to assume his duties as ruling bishop.
Nicholas Kherson OblastMichael Zacharovich ZiorovBishop of the Aleutians and Alaska1891–98In 1898, Bishop Nicholas was transferred to Russia, to serve as Archbishop of the Diocese of Tver and Kashin.
Tikhon Toropetz DistrictVasily Ivanovich BelavinBishop of the Aleutians and Alaska1898–1900
Tikhon Toropetz DistrictVasily Ivanovich BelavinBishop of the Aleutians and North America1900–05Bishop Tikhon introduced many changes to the diocesan structure, including renaming it to the Diocese of the Aleutians and North America.
Tikhon Toropetz DistrictVasily Ivanovich BelavinArchbishop of the Aleutians and North America1905–07Bishop Tikhon was elevated to archbishop when the diocese was made an archdiocese in 1905. He returned to Russia in 1907.
Platon Kursk EparchyPorphyry Theodorovich RozhdestvenskyArchbishop of the Aleutians and North America1907–14
Platon Kursk EparchyPorphyry Theodorovich RozhdestvenskyMetropolitan of All America and Canada1922–34-
Evdokim Vladimir DioceseBasil Mikhailovich MescherskyArchbishop of the Aleutians and North America1914–18Archbishop Evodkim returned to Russia and was appointed Archbishop of Nizhegorod in 1919.
Alexander Volhynia EparchyAlexander Alexandrovich NemolovskyArchbishop of the Aleutians and North America1919–22Archbishop Alexander left the United States in 1922, and was replaced by Metropolitan Platon.
Theophilus Kiev OblastTheodore Nicholaevich PashkovskyArchbishop of San Francisco, Metropolitan of All America and Canada1934–50Theophilus was elected as metropolitan after Metropolitan Platon's death in 1934.
Leontius KremenetsLeonid Ieronimovich TurkevichArchbishop of New York, Metropolitan of All America and Canada1950–65
Irenaeus Mezhirech, Lublin ProvinceJohn BekishArchbishop of New York, Metropolitan of All America and Canada1965–77In 1970, the Russian Metropolia was granted autocephaly, and was renamed as the Orthodox Church in America.
Sylvester Daugavpils, LatviaIvan Antonovich HarunsArchbishop of Montreal and Canada, Temporary Administrator of the Orthodox Church in America1974–77Archbishop Sylvester was appointed as Temporary Administrator in 1974, and handled the day-to-day business of the Church for Metropolitan Irenaeus, whose health was failing.
Theodosius Canonsburg, PAFrank LazorArchbishop of New York, Metropolitan of All America and Canada1977–80
Theodosius Canonsburg, PAFrank LazorArchbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada1981–2002Entered retirement after suffering a series of strokes on April 2, 2002.
Herman Briarford, PAJoseph SwaikoArchbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada2002–2005
Herman Briarford, PAJoseph SwaikoArchbishop of Washington and New York, Metropolitan of All America and Canada2005–2008Voluntarily resigned per the request of the Special Investigative Committee of the OCA on September 4, 2008. Archbishop Dmitri of Dallas served as locums tenens until a successor was named.
Jonah Chicago, ILJames PaffhausenArchbishop of Washington and New York, Metropolitan of All America and Canada2008–2009Metropolitan Jonah was the first Metropolitan of the OCA who was not raised an Orthodox Christian.
Jonah Chicago, ILJames PaffhausenArchbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada2009–2012Tendered on Jul 6, 2012.
Tikhon Boston, MAMarc R. MollardArchbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada2012–PresentMetropolitan Tikhon is the second Metropolitan of the OCA who was not raised an Orthodox Christian.