Russian Orthodox Metropolitan of Buenos Aires Retires

The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church has accepted the request for retirement of Metropolitan Platon (Udovenko) of the Eparchy of Buenos Aires and South America. Until the election of a new bishop for the diocese the Holy Synod has entrusted its care not to the administrator of the South American diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, but rather to Archbishop Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Narofominsk, the New York-based auxiliary bishop who oversees the representation of the Moscow Patriarchate to the American Orthodox Church (OCA). More here.

Russian Orthodox Archbishops Participate in 199th Anniversary of the Founding of Fort Ross

In honor of the 199th anniversary of the founding of Fort Ross this past Thursday Archbishops Kyrill (Dmitrieff) of San Francisco of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) and Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Narofominsk, representative of the Moscow Patriarchate to the American Orthodox Church, visited the northern Californian fort to take part in the anniversary celebrations as well as planning for the upcoming 200th anniversary.

As part of this year's celebrations Archbishop Justinian served the Divine Liturgy in Fort Ross' Holy Trinity Church with Archbishop Kyrill and other clergymen of the Russian Orthodox Church and the ROCOR in attendance. More (in Russian) here.

Archbishop Justinian Visits Michigan

Archbishop Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Narofominsk, representative of the Moscow Patriarchate to the American Orthodox Church (OCA), has begun a pastoral visit to the parishes of his exarchate's central deanery, concelebrating the divine services with local clergy (from the Antiochian, Russian, and American Orthodox Churches) in East Lansing, Michigan, and Battle Creek, Michigan, and also visiting the women's Monastery of the Dormition in Rives Junction under the OCA's Romanian Orthodox Episcopate in America. More (in Russian) here, here, and here.

Metropolitan Hilarion, Archbishop Justinian Concelebrate in Tampa

Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral) of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and Archbishop Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Narofominsk, head of the patriarchal Russian Orthodox representation to the American Orthodox Church in the United States, have concelebrated in Tampa's Church of St. Gregory the Theologian during their pastoral visits to their respective parishes in Florida. More here.

Russian, Romanian Orthodox Hierarchs Concelebrate in NYC

Archbishop Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Narofominsk, head of the patriarchal Russian Orthodox representation to the American Orthodox Church (OCA), concelebrated the Divine Liturgy today with Bishop Irineu (Duvlea) of Dearborn Heights, auxiliary of the OCA's Romanian Orthodox Episcopate in America, in New York's Cathedral of St. Nicholas. The services were celebrated in a mixture of English, Romanian, and Slavonic. More (in Russian) here.

OCA, ROCOR Metropolitans Concelebrate in NYC

Metropolitans Jonah (Paffhausen) of the American Orthodox Church (OCA) and Hilarion (Kapral) of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) have concelebrated the festal services in honor of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in New York's Cathedral of St. Nicholas together with the Moscow Patriarchate's Archbishop Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Narofominsk, the OCA's Bishop Tikhon (Mollard) of Philadelphia, and the ROCOR's auxiliary Bishop Jerome (Shaw) of Manhattan to celebrate the nameday of Patriarch Kirill (Gundyayev) of Moscow. More pictures from the services can be found here.

Update (25/5/2011): According to the website of the Moscow Patriarchate (neither the OCA nor the ROCOR websites have posted anything on this so far) yesterday's Divine Liturgy was the first time since the last break between the ROCOR and what was then the Russian Orthodox Metropolia of North America that hierarchs of the two have concelebrated. After the services Metropolitan Jonah gave relics of Sts. Herman of Alaska and Alexis of Minneapolis to Metropolitan Hilarion, who in return gave Metropolitan Jonah relics of St. John of San Francisco. More (in Russian) here.

Victory Day in New York Cathedral

At today's commemoration of Victory Day at New York's Cathedral of St. Nicholas the cathedral's rector, Archbishop Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Narofominsk, was joined by Metropolitans Jonah (Paffhausen) of the American Orthodox Church and Hilarion (Kapral) of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, who joined him in congratulating the veterans and faithful present at the cathedral with the holiday. More (in Russian) here.

Archbishop Justinian, Bishop Tikhon Concelebrate in Philadelphia

This past weekend Bishop Tikhon (Mollard) of Philadelphia and Archbishop Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Narofominsk, head of the patriarchal Russian Orthodox representation to the American Orthodox Church, concelebrated the Sunday Liturgy in Philadelphia's Cathedral of St. Andrew. After the Sunday Liturgy the two hierarchs concelebrated a memorial for the World War II dead remembered during today's Victory Day celebrations in the former USSR. More (in Russian) here.

Archbishop Justinian Visits Antiochian, Greek Orthodox Cathedrals in Mexico City

As part of his ongoing visit to Mexico, Archbishop Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Narofominsk visited both the new Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul under construction in Mexico City and the city's Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Wisdom, where he met with Metropolitan Athenagoras (Aneste) of Mexico City. More (in Russian) here.

Pictured is Archbishop Justinian with Metropolitan Athenagoras in the city's Cathedral of the Holy Wisdom.

Bright Saturday Gathering in NYC

In keeping with the new custom of the patriarchal Russian Orthodox representation in the USA, this past Bright Saturday the rectors of the representation's parishes and monasteries assembled at New York's Cathedral of St. Nicholas to concelebrate the Paschal Divine Liturgy with Archbishop Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Narofominsk and meet with one another.

This year's celebrations included Bishop Jerome (Shaw) of Manhattan and other clergymen of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, who participated in the gathering with the blessing of Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral) of New York. More (in Russian) here.

Metropolitan Antonios of Mexico City Meets with Archbishop Justinian of Narofominsk

Archbishop Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Narofominsk, head of the representation of the Russian Orthodox Church to the American Orthodox Church, met yesterday with Metropolitan Antonios (Chedraoui) of Mexico City of the Antiochian Orthodox Church in Mexico City to discuss the possibility for cooperation between the Antiochian and Russian Orthodox Churches in northern Latin America and the Caribbean. More (in Russian) here.

Pictured are Archbishop Justinian and Metropolitan Antonios (center) after their meeting in Mexico City.

New Western Rites Priest Ordained in Minnesota

Bishop Jerome (Shaw) of Manhattan, auxiliary to the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, has ordained Philip Ramstad to the holy priesthood to serve the Church of Sts. Aidan and Cuthbert in St. Paul, Minnesota. Axios! More here.

Correction (2/5/2011): Reader Philip Ramstad was ordained to the deaconate on 28 April by Archbishop Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Narofominsk at the Cathedral of our Lady of the Sign in New York, but has not yet been ordained to the priesthood.

Metropolitans Christopher, Jonah, and Hilarion Meet in New York

Following the arrival of Metropolitan Christopher (Pulec) of Prague of the Czechoslovak Orthodox Church he met with Metropolitans Jonah (Paffhausen) of Washington of the American Orthodox Church (OCA) and Hilarion (Kapral) of New York of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and Archbishop Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Narofominsk of the patriarchal Russian Orthodox representation to the OCA at Metropolitan Hilarion's residence in New York City. During the meeting Metropolitan Christopher invited Metropolitan Jonah to visit the Czech Republic and Slovakia. More here.

American and Russian Orthodox Hierarchs Concelebrate in New York

This past Sunday Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen) of Washington of the American Orthodox Church (OCA) concelebrated the Divine Liturgy with Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk and Archbishop Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Narofominsk of the Russian Orthodox Church as well as Bishop Melchisedek (Pleska) of Pittsburgh of the OCA at St. Nicholas' Cathedral in New York, the representation of the Moscow Patriarchate to the OCA. In honor of Archbishop Justinian's 50th birthday Metropolitan Jonah presented him with an icon of St. John the Wonderworker of San Francisco. More here.

Moscow Celebrates 2nd Anniversary of Patriarch's Enthronement

On the second anniversary of his enthronement Patriarch Kirill (Gundyayev) of Moscow and All Rus' concelebrated the Divine Liturgy in Moscow's Christ the Savior Church with the permanent members of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, the representatives of the Local Orthodox Churches to the Moscow Patriarchate, and various other hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church.

During the festive services Bishop Nicon of Lipetsk and Yelets was elevated to the rank of archbishop. Additionally, Archbishop Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Narofominsk was awarded the Order of St. Innocent of Moscow, Bishops Pitirim of Syktyvkar, Seraphim (Melkonyan) of Baltiysk, and George (Schaefer) of Mayfield the Order of St. Seraphim of Sarov, and Bishop Seraphim of Sendai the Order of St. Daniel of Moscow.

More on the celebrations can be found here.

Metropolitan Jonah Concludes Visit to Russia

After a visit to the Diocese of Tver, where he was received by Archbishop Victor of Tver and Kashin, Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen) of Washington concluded his trip to Russia. Archbishop Justinian of Narofominsk, administrator of the patriarchal Russian Orthodox exarchate in the United States, together with Bishop Alexander of Dmitrov and Russian and American Orthodox clergy from Moscow saw Metropolitan Jonah off at the airport. More on that here. More on Metropolitan Jonah's visit to the Tver region can be found here.

90th Anniversary of the ROCOR

The celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) begins today in New York. In addition to various hierarchs of the ROCOR Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan and Archbishop Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Narofominsk, caretaker of the patriarchal Russian Orthodox churches in the Unioted States, will also be participating in the events. The schedule for the anniversary celebrations can be found here.