The

Ecumenical Patriarchate The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( el, Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit=Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, ; la, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constanti ...

in America comprises nine separate

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. Jur ...

s, along with a number of

stavropegial A stauropegion, also spelled stavropegion (from el, σταυροπήγιον from σταυρός ''stauros'' "cross" and πήγνυμι ''pegnumi'' "to affirm"), is a monastery or a parish which depends directly on the primate or on the Holy Syn ...

institutions, and includes roughly two-thirds of all

Eastern Orthodox Christians Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

in America. The

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

of the

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, headquartered in New York City, is an eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Its current primate is Archbishop Elpidophoros of America. Archbishop On May 11, 2019, the church's Hol ...

, by far the largest of Constantinopolitan jurisdictions in the US, is considered the local primate and may convene a

Holy Synod In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox C ...

of all the hierarchs of the Ecumenical throne in America. Reliable statistics are difficult to find, but the Ecumenical Patriarchate has roughly 500,000 adherents (or up to 2 million, by some estimates) in the United States worshiping at about 750

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

es (about 725) and

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

(about 25). This includes 14 defined dioceses (a number of which overlap, since multiple jurisdictions exist), governed by 19

diocesan In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

and

auxiliary Auxiliary may refer to: * A backup site or system In language * Auxiliary language (disambiguation) * Auxiliary verb In military and law enforcement * Auxiliary police * Auxiliaries, civilians or quasi-military personnel who provide support of ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

s. Thus Constantinople is by far the largest numerical representation of

Eastern Orthodoxy in North America Eastern Orthodoxy in North America represents adherents, religious communities, institutions and organizations of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in North America, including the United States, Canada, Mexico and other North American states. Estima ...

, including roughly twice as many Eastern Orthodox Christians under its

omophorion In the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic liturgical tradition, the ''omophorion'' ( grc-gre, ὠμοφόριον, meaning " omethingborne on the shoulders"; Slavonic: омофоръ, ''omofor'') is the distinguishing vestment of a bishop an ...

than all other jurisdictions combined and about two-fifths of all Orthodox bishops in America. Of the nine bishops who are members of

SCOBA The Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) was an organization of bishops from Eastern Orthodox Christian jurisdictions in the Americas. It acted as a clearinghouse for educational, charitable, and missionary ...

, four represent Constantinopolitan jurisdictions.

Jurisdictions

Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America The Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America ( sq, Dioqeza ortodokse shqiptare në Amerikë) is a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the United States. , its leader was Bishop (Vicar General since 1982 and bishop since 2002), who lives i ...

American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese The American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of North America (ACROD) is a diocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate with 78 parishes in the United States and Canada. Though the diocese is directly responsible to the Patriarchate, it is under the s ...

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada, formerly known as the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto (Canada), is an archdiocese of the Eastern Orthodox Church based in Canada. It is under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Cons ...

# Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Mexico #

Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada (UOCC; french: Église orthodoxe ukrainienne du Canada) is an Eastern Orthodox church in Canada, primarily consisting of Orthodox Ukrainian Canadians. Its former name (before 1990) was the Ukrainian Greek ...

Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA (UOC of USA; uk, Українська православна церква у США) is a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the United States. It consists of two eparchies (dioceses), ruled ...

Vicariate for Palestinian-Jordanian Communities in the USA A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

#Vicariate for the Communities of Slavic Tradition in the USA

Stavropegial institutions

The Patriarchal and Stavropegial Orthodox Monastery of St. Irene Chrysovalantou in Astoria, New York, founded in 1972, had historically been part of the

Old Calendarist Old Calendarists (Greek: ''palaioimerologitai'' or ''palaioimerologites''), also known as Old Feasters (''palaioeortologitai''), Genuine Orthodox Christians or True Orthodox Christians (GOC; ), are traditionalist groups of Eastern Orthodox Chri ...

movement (specifically the "Kiousis Synod") but in 1998 it came under the

of the

Ecumenical Patriarch The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of th ...

. Though not formally organized as a

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

, the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

and its ten

metochia A ''metochion'' or ''metochi'' ( gr, μετόχιον, metóchion or gr, μετόχι, metóchi; russian: подворье, podvorie) is an ecclesiastical embassy church within Eastern Orthodox tradition. It is usually from one autocephalous or ...

—two monasteries and eight

es—essentially function as a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the United States (also including one mission in Belize). The

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

and the deputy abbot of the monastery are both

s, governing not only the monastery but also the metochia, most of which are in the northeastern United States. Apart from a second monastery in Astoria, New York, and one in North Fort Myers, Florida, there are four parishes in New York, one in Delaware, one in Florida, one in Illinois, and one in Beliz

(The list at the Greek Archdiocese website also includes a parish in New Jerse

) The current abbot is Metropolitan bishop, Metropolitan Paisios (Loulourgas) of Tyana, who led the monastery and its metochia into the Ecumenical Patriarchate along with the deputy abbot, Bishop

Vikentios (Malamatenios) of Apameia Vincent ( la, Vincentius) is a male given name derived from the Roman name Vincentius, which is derived from the Latin word (''to conquer''). People with the given name Artists *Vincent Apap (1909–2003), Maltese sculptor *Vincent van Gogh ...

. Both Paisios and Vikentios were

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

upon entry into the patriarchate, as their previous ordinations in the Old Calendarist movement were regarded as invalid. The monastery and its metochia are

, directly under the Ecumenical Patriarch, and until recently continued to follow the

Julian Calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandr ...

, but are using the

Revised Julian Calendar The Revised Julian calendar, or less formally the new calendar, is a calendar proposed in 1923 by the Serbian scientist Milutin Milanković as a more accurate alternative to both Julian and Gregorian calendars. At the time, the Julian calendar w ...

for some years. The

Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute The Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute (PAOI) is a member of the Graduate Theological Union, an ecumenical and interfaith consortium of nine independent seminaries and ten affiliated centers based in Berkeley, California. The institute is ...

in Berkeley, California, is also a stavropegial institution of the patriarchate.

References

{{OrthodoxWiki, oldid=43954 Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople Eastern Orthodoxy in the United States