Eastern Orthodoxy in Taiwan
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Eastern Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first m ...
in
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
represents Christians in Taiwan who are adherents of the
Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...
.


1895-1945

Eastern Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first m ...
arrived in
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
around 1895, the year the
Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
ceded the island to Japan. These first Orthodox believers were Japanese immigrants, who almost immediately began petitioning St. Nicholas (Kasatskin), Archbishop of Japan to send them a priest. In 1901, a Tokyo
synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...
created the Christ the Savior Parish in Taiwan. Its first priest was Fr. Simeon (Okava or Yukava—spellings differ), followed (in 1911) by a Fr. Titus (Kariyama). Records indicate a Taiwan-based Orthodox population of 15 or 17 (in 1900), 29 (in 1901), and 44 (in 1903). The activity of the community was interrupted by the 1912 death of St. Nicholas of Japan, and largely ceased with the end of Japanese rule in 1945. Sayama Dayroku, later Archbishop Nicholas of Ramensky (near Moscow), was born 1914 in Taihoku (Taipei).


1949-1970's

In 1949, some 5000 Russians arrived from China (e.g.
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
,
Harbin Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest ...
,
Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
) in the wake of the
Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
, and began gathering in Taipei's
Cafe Astoria The Cafe Astoria () is the first Western-style bakery in Taiwan. It is located in the Zhongzheng District of Taipei, Taiwan, on Wuchang Street across from the City God Temple. History In October 1949, 18-year-old Archibald Chien became business ...
. Mention is made of a
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
-era funeral led by Bishop (later Archbishop
John (Shahovskoy)
of San Francisco, then a U.S. army chaplain en route from Korea to the USA. Archbishop
Ireney (Bekish) Metropolitan Ireney (Patron Saint St. Irenaeus of Lyons, secular name John Bekish, born Ivan Dmitriyevich Bekish, russian: Иван Дмитриевич Бекиш, pl, Jan Bekisz; 2 October 1892, Mezhirech, Lublin Province (now Poland) – 18 Ma ...
of Tokyo (later New York) made annual visits to Taipei between 1957 and 1959, celebrating divine liturgy in a private home, under the name of the Church of the Forerunner. In 1960 he ceded these duties to an American military chaplain, Fr. Nikolay Kirilyuk. 1965 saw a visit by Metropolitan Vladimir (Sagosky) of Japan (later San Francisco), American military chaplain Archpriest Peter Zurnovich, and Fr. Kirill Arihara. The number of Orthodox faithful in Taiwan has been variously estimated at 50 (in 1960), 100 (in 1958), and 200 (in 1965). The Russian community's most famous member, Chiang Ching-kuo's
Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
ian-born wife
Chiang Fang-liang Faina Chiang Fang-liang (, born Faina Ipat'evna Vakhreva (russian: Фаина Ипатьевна Вахрева, be, Фаіна Іпацьеўна Вахрава; 15 May 1916 – 15 December 2004) was the First Lady of the Republic of China ...
(née Faina Ipat'evna Vakhreva), did not attend services (and may have nominally affiliated with her husband's
Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's br ...
). Sources differ as to whether this predominantly Russian church had any contact with the earlier wave of Japanese-era believers. By the 1970s the church had again dwindled into inactivity, in part because of a canonical rule requiring the closure of any parish which goes more than fifty years without a resident priest.


2000-present

But nevertheless, the Taiwanese Orthodox Church was re-established by a Greek
hieromonk A hieromonk ( el, Ἱερομόναχος, Ieromonachos; ka, მღვდელმონაზონი, tr; Slavonic: ''Ieromonakh'', ro, Ieromonah), also called a priestmonk, is a monk who is also a priest in the Eastern Orthodox Church and E ...
, Fr. Jonah (Mourtos) of Osiou Gregoriou monastery (
Mount Athos Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...
) in the year of 2001 AD under the auspices of the Metropolitan of South Asia under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in Istanbul. The attendants are mainly Russian and other Slavic people but gradually, more and more Taiwanese locals are coming to Orthodoxy. In 2012 the
Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...
reactivated the parish of Christ the Savior in Taipei under the leadership of a priest from
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. The trilingual parish celebrates the services in a mixture of Chinese, English, and Slavonic. The Holy and Sacred Synod of Constantinople founded also the new Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and South East Asia in November 1996, with jurisdiction over: Hong Kong, Macao, China, Taiwan, Mongolia, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, and also Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, East Timor, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan.


See also

*
Religion in Taiwan Religion in Taiwan is characterised by a diversity of religious beliefs and practices, predominantly those pertaining to the continued preservation of the ancient Chinese culture and religion. Freedom of religion is inscribed in the constitut ...
*
Christianity in Taiwan Taiwan has a Christian minority, making up about 3.9% of its population. Roughly half of Taiwan's Christians are Catholic, and half Protestant. Due to the small number of practitioners, Christianity has not influenced the island nation's Han Chines ...
*
Chinese Orthodox Church The Chinese Orthodox Church () is an autonomous Eastern Orthodox church in China. It was granted autonomy by its mother church, the Russian Orthodox Church, in 1957. Earlier forms of Eastern Christianity Christianity is said to have entered Ch ...
* Japanese Orthodox Church


References


Works cited

*


External links


Official Site - Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia
* ttp://www.orthodox.cn/localchurch/taiwan/index_en.html Japanese-era Churches in Taiwan (photos and links)br>Orthodox Church in Taiwan (Constantinople Patriarchate)(Chinese)Orthodox Church in Taiwan (Moscow Patriarchate)(Chinese)Orthodox Church in Taiwan (Moscow Patriarchate)(Russian)Fr. Jonah's LinkedIn entrySeraphim William Davidson's websiteJohanna E. Katchen's website Moscow-affiliated church's Facebook page
{{Asia topic, Eastern Orthodoxy in
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
Christianity in Taiwan