The Holy Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church of America

who we are

Find out what it means to be Western Rite Orthodox.

The Holy Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church (Archdiocese of New York) is a constituent part of Holy Orthodoxy in America.

We are awaiting, provisionally, the time when the Orthodox Western Rite will be fully and properly accepted within Orthodoxy as a legitimate and equal expression of Orthodox Faith and Mission. We have come out of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia to more freely spread the Orthodox Catholic Faith in America.

The Archdiocese has chosen not to join with the organization known as the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America in order to better preserve the Orthodox Faith and protect it from many administrative, phyletistic, and political issues the Assembly has.

The Archdiocese endeavors to produce holy and faithful priests who will spread Holy Orthodoxy by both word and example using the ancient Orthodox Western Rite. It is our mission to do all that we can to support efforts for unity within Holy Orthodoxy. In order to accomplish this mission, we are doing a number of things: 1) pressing for a better educated clergy, 2) contacting other jurisdictions to create a forum for traditional non-Assembly Churches to spiritually unite and work together for the common good, and 3) working to make quality liturgical materials available to all people.

With a humble group of several Church Missions and Sketes, spread across several of the United States, we are a small Orthodox Jurisdiction which embraces the past and future of Orthodoxy. The past, because we continue in the Apostles’ Teaching, and Fellowship, The Breaking of Bread and the Prayers. The future, because we believe that the timeless message of Orthodox Christianity, faith and morals, is the only way to remain faithful and to assure a place in the kingdom of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.

“I do not know a Greek Christ, a Russian Christ, an English Christ, an Arab Christ. Christ for me is everything, the super cosmic being. If we confess in the creed, Christ is very God, the Saviour of the Universe, the Creator of the World, by whom all things are made, how can we bring our understanding of Him down to a question of nationality, place or epoch?”

Archimandrite Sophrony (Disciple of Saint Silouan)