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Published by the
Orthodox Church in
America, August 2, 2005
FINNISH
ORTHODOX ARCHBISHOP VISITS UNITED STATES |
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SYOSSET, NY [OCA Communications] -- Archbishop
Leo, primate of the Orthodox Church of Finland,
arrived in the US on Friday, July 29, 2005 to
begin a fourteen-day visit as guest of the
primate of the Orthodox Church in America [OCA],
Metropolitan Herman.
Accompanying the Archbishop is the Valaam Icon
of the Mother of God, a 19th century painting of
the Virgin and Christ child originally enshrined
in a monastery in northwestern Russia.
After visiting OCA headquarters in Syosset, NY,
Archbishop Leo called on faculty and students at
Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary,
Crestwood, NY, before traveling to South Canaan,
PA, where he celebrated services at Saint Tikhon
of Zadonsk Monastery.
On Tuesday, August 2, Metropolitan Herman will
accompany Archbishop Leo on a visit to Alaska
for celebrations marking the 35th Anniversary of
the canonization of Saint Herman of Alaska, one
of several Orthodox monastics who initiated
missionary work in Kodiak, AK in 1794. Bishop
Nikolai of Sitka, Anchorage, and Alaska will
host the Archbishop and his entourage during the
anniversary celebration.
The Finnish Church and the OCA have long
maintained close ties, partially due to the fact
that the 18th century Alaskan missionaries
hailed from the Valaam Monastery. During World
War II, the monastery was evacuated, along with
the Valaam Icon of the Mother of God, to
Finland, where the New Valamo Monastery was
established. While the original Valaam Monastery
was revitalized after the fall of communism in
Russia in the early 1990s, the icon remains
enshrined in Finland.
In 2004, Archbishop Leo hosted Metropolitan
Herman and a delegation from the OCA in Finland.
The Orthodox Church in America traces its roots
to the work of the Alaskan missionaries. In
1970, it was granted autocephalous, or
self-governing, status by the Russian Orthodox
Church, under whose auspices the original
missionaries labored. The Finnish Church, while
within the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of
Constantinople, enjoys broad powers of self
government in internal matters as an autonomous
Church of the patriarchate.
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