Polish Orthodox Church

The Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church Polski Autokefaliczny Kościół Prawosławny Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Łódź Founder Ss. Cyril and Methodius Independence — Recognition Autocephaly recognised in 1924 by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and in 1948 by the Russian Orthodox Church. Primate Archbishop of Warsaw and Metropolitan of All Poland, Sawa Hrycuniak. Headquarters Warsaw, Poland Territory Poland Possessions Brazil, United States Language Church Slavonic, Polish Portuguese Adherents 600,000[1] Website http://www.orthodox.pl/

The Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church, commonly known as the Polish Orthodox Church, (Polish: Polski Autokefaliczny Kościół Prawosławny), is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Churches in full communion. The church was established in 1924, to accommodate Orthodox Christians of Polish, Ukrainian and Belarusian descent in the eastern part of the country, when Poland regained its independence after the First World War.

History

Orthodox church in Białowieża

The establishment of the church was undertaken after the Treaty of Riga left a large amount of territory previously under the control of the Russian Empire, as part of the Second Polish Republic. Eastern Orthodoxy was widespread in the Belarusian Western Belarus regions and the Ukrainian Volhynia. The loss of ecclestical link due to the persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Soviet Union, left the regional clergy in a crisis moment, and in 1924, the Ecumenical Patriarchate took over establishing several autonomous churches on territories of the new states that were formally wholly or partially part of the Russian Empire (Finland, the Baltic States, and Poland).

During the interbellum, however, the Polish authorities imposed severe restrictions on the church and its clergy. The most famous example, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Warsaw was destroyed. In Volyhnia a total of 190 Orthodox Churches were destroyed and a further 150 converted to Roman Catholicism. Several court hearings against the Pochayiv Lavra also took place.

After the Second World War most of the ethnically Ukrainian and Belarusian territories were annexed by the Soviet Union, holding up to 80% of the POC's parishes and congregation. These were united with the recently re-instated Moscow Patriarchate. The remaining parishes that were now on the territory of the Polish People's Republic were kept by the POC, these included most of the mixed easternmost territories such as around Chełm and Białystok. In 1948 under pressure from the Russian Orthodox Church, the Ecumenical Patriarchate granted the POC autocephalous status.

Administration

The church is headed by the Archbishop of Warsaw and Metropolitan of All Poland : Sawa (Michael) Hrycuniak (1998-). It is divided into seven archdioceses.

Archdioceses and Archbishops

• Archdiocese of Warsaw and Bielsk : Sawa (Michael) Hritsuniak
• Archdiocese of Białystok and Gdańsk : Jakob Kostjucjuk (2008-)
• Archdiocese of Łódź and Poznań : Simon Romandjuk (1993-)
• Archdiocese of Wrocław and Szczecin : Jeremy (Jan) Ancimiuk (1997-)
• Archdiocese of Lublin and Chełm : Avel (Andrea) Poplavsky (2001-)
• Archdiocese of Przemyśl and Nowy Sącz : Adam (Alexander) Dubetz (1996-)
• Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro and Olinda-Recife : Chrisostomo (1992-)

Titular Dioceses and Bishops

• Archdiocese of Hajnówka : Myron (Myroslav) Hodakovsky (2008-2010)
• Diocese of Supraśl : Gregory (Jertzi) Harkievitz (2008-)
• Diocese of Siemiatycze : George Pankovsky (2007-)
• Diocese of Gorlice : Paisius (Piotr) Martinjuk (2009-)
• Diocese of Recife : Ambrose Cubas (1996-)

Other entities

• Polish Orthodox Military Ordinariate

Most of the congregation is still centered in the Eastern borderland regions with considerable Belarusian and Ukrainian minorities. In total, it has approximately 600,000 adherents.

In 2002 following the decision of the Holy Sobor of Bishops of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church canonized the New Martyrs of Chelm and Podlasie suffering a persecution during the Fourth Decade of the Twentieth Century.

See also

• List of Orthodox Churches
• Supraśl Lavra
• Union of Brest

References

External links

• Polish Orthodox Church, official site
• Polish Orthodox Church Unofficial Site (English)
• Polish Orthodox Diocese of Przemyśl-Nowy Sącz (Polish)
• Polish Orthodox Diocese of Lublin-Chełm (Polish)
• Polish Orthodox Diocese of Białystok-Gdańsk (English)
• Polish Orthodox Military Ordinariat (Polish)
• Polish Orthodox Diocese of Brazil (Portuguese)
• Article on Polish Orthodox Church on CNEWA website
• orthodoxwiki:Church of Poland