We are recognized by the Catholic Church and have a letter that we may give communion to Roman Catholics.
We are traditional orthodox!
Since our lawsuit for Defamation and Harassment the troublemakers from the non-traditional groups have stepped back. We find all over the internet that the OCA and Antiochians continue to re-write history about this Church. They also continue to attack former clergy of this Church of Blessed Memory. We have proven in court that we are the one and only THEOCACNA, the 1927 Church originally headed by Abp. Ofiesh and the 1928 Church corporation. Those who falsely claim to be us using our name, a similar name or a different name claiming they" had authority" to change our name or who claim the 1927 Charter issued to this Church are if not all, most, in the independent movement.
[NOTE: We do not claim all in the independent movement are bad but that those who do attack us in some way are part of that movement].
Many of The independents claim to be "canonical", claim to be in some way associated with the ecumenical patriarch and in fact are in no way associated with any canonical, or canonically established, Church. The Roman Orthodox Church claimed we chartered them to be our western rite - but we in fact are mainly western rite. That claim was proven false on the website of the "independent" group that did charter them.
Any of the independents who use our name to falsely claim they are us would be guilty of infringing our name [& Registered Service Mark] and could face civil or criminal charges. Many who do not understand the problems associated with the independent movement believe what they hear and believe we have been nothing more than an old catholic church. Once its understood those individuals were not of this Church or lines they may take a closer look at us and discover who we really are.
We use the approved Orthodox Western Rite liturgy as well as Eastern Rite services. A retired bishop who came to us from the Catholic Church was allowed to continue his Gregorian (latin rite) liturgy and has since reposed. We follow the Rudder (orthodox canons) and the orthodox calendar.
We offer communion to all baptized members of the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches.
We have a letter from a Roman Catholic diocese that our clergy could offer communion within our liturgy to Catholics and our clergy have been asked to concelebrate the liturgy with Roman Catholic clergy.
Over the years the Churches status has changed. Originally chartered as an autonomous and autocephalous jurisdiction the Church became a Metropolinate and then in 2003 was elevated to a Patriarchate.
Archbishop Peter, a former synod member, had on numerous occasions shared the altar with the SCOBA Ukrainian Church. He was with the Uniate Byzantine Catholic Church prior to his association with THEOCACNA.
One of our former priests has been accepted by the Episcopal Church priesthood without "re-ordination".
Former Metropolitan Victor and the Synod established a concordat with the Italo-Greek Orthdox Church (Byzantine). The presiding bishop died of cancer since the concordat and asked us to accept any members of his Church who desired to join us.
On various occasions we have released a few clergy and accepted the resignations of others. Many are now associated with other churches that were established independently and are not associated with this Church. We do not support or condone the clergy leaving contrary to canon who start up their individual new groups, and we cannot control their acts. We do state that they are not associated with or approved by this Church. Clergy who left this Church in any manner do not have permission to continue to use our name and have no authority to act for this Church.
There were a number of churches that used our short name and/or claim our 1927 Charter as theirs. Some have even incorporated our name in other states. They are not part of this Church and the use of our name by such groups is illegal. There are groups online with headquarters in Colorado, Pennsylvania and North Carolina and other states who have used the name "The Holy Eastern Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church in North America®" but our Church is the one and same Church that was established by the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church in North America and was headed by Archbishop Aftimios, the first Corporate and Synod president.
In an effort to halt the false claims of those who say they are us we have Registered our name as a Service Mark. The "®" indicates that our name, in use by us since 1927, is our registered Service Mark and is duly Registered with the U.S. Patent Trademark Office. We also have 3 copyrights - Our web pages, Synod photos and photos of Metropolitan Victor. Now anyone claiming to be us and using our name are in violation of U.S. Law.
It should be noted that there is a group using our service mark "The Society of Clerk's Secular of St. Basil" who are not associated with us. They are in fact part of the independent movement. There are a few groups who use our short name "The American Orthodox Catholic Church" who are also part of the independent movement.
If you have any questions about anyone claiming to be a member or clergyman of this Church do not hesitate to write:
Are we
According to our charter we were established by a canonical body - the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church so we are a canonically established Church. We adhere to the Sacred and Divine Canons, the Rudder, of the Orthodox Church, we follow Scripture above all else and we follow the traditions of Orthodoxy. Our liturgy is only the full and complete orthodox liturgy as published in the various Orthodox books. We do not alter the liturgy.
We are not in communion but some of our clergy have shared the altar with the ethnic canonical clergy and others have been invited to share the altar with
We are recognized by the Catholic Church and have a letter that we may give communion to Roman Catholics.
We are traditional orthodox!