Alaskan Church Lands Returned to Sitka Diocese

After years of their management by the central ecclesiastical administration the church lands in Alaska have been returned by the American Orthodox Church (OCA) to the ownership of the Diocese of Sitka and Alaska. The lands were formally signed over to the Alaskan Orthodox Church by Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen) this past Wednesday in the presence of Bishop Benjamin (Pederson) of San Francisco, locum tenens of the Diocese of Sitka. The return of the lands means that the Alaskan Orthodox faithful now legally own their churches and cemeteries. The decision to return the lands was taken by the Metropolitan Council of the OCA. More here.