largest orthodox church in the united states

Part of HuffPost Religion. This return was proposed with the stipulation that the Metropolia be allowed to retain its autonomy. During their return voyage to the colony in May 1799, their ship sank and all aboard died. Over a year of doing research, Riccardi-Swartz learned that many of these converts had grown disillusioned with social and demographic change in the United States. Missionaries of the Russian Orthodox faith were sent to establish a formal mission in the settlement in the 1790s. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, Patriarchal Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church and Armenian Apostolic Church of America all experienced a slight decrease in the number of parishes. In 1918, a group of Ukrainians in Canada formed the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church in Canada, and in 1922, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America was established. The statement they released on the official website of the OCA detailed several administrative decisions Metropolitan Jonah had made that the Holy Synod felt put the church and its members at risk. It is governed by the Archbishop and the Eparchial Synod of Bishops. Source: Gogink Lobabi [CC BY-SA 3.0] via Wikimedia Commons. They're very digitally savvy and very connected to other far-right actors in the United States and across the globe. Harry Fosdick conceived the idea of building a church to unite New Yorkers no matter what denomination of Christianity they belong to. Christianity is the dominant religion in the United States accounting for about 70% of the religious population. Most of the funding for the diocese was provided by Russian Church, via the Imperial Missionary Society. "So for me, those are a bunch of new ROCOR communities which are founded by convert clergy or by convert members," Krindatch said. Yet, as the saying goes, a church isnt the building, its the people. Alaska has the largest Orthodox population by percentage of the state population at 5%. But over time, their children started to encounter racism in the church. In general, those who have raised concern about racism and extremists' participation within the church say the issue has largely been left to parish priests to address or not to address. Despite centuries of presence in North America, starting in what we now know as Alaska, the Orthodox church in the U.S. is still relatively small. In 1905, Bishop Tikhon relocated the diocesan administration from San Francisco to New York City. Several additions over the years have given the church 70 chapels surrounding the main chapel and a new dome with a mosaic ceiling. [52], Response to 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, As of 5 April 2021, there is only one Western Rite mission, located in, Orthodox Church in America (disambiguation), Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church in Canada, Synod of Bishops of the Russian Church Abroad, Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops in America, Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America, Financial scandal in the Orthodox Church in America, Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, List of primates of the Orthodox Church in America, List of the dioceses of the Orthodox Church in America, "Archbishop Tikhon elected Metropolitan of All American and Canada", "Christ the King Orthodox Church of Edmonton", "Canada Western Orthodox Parishes and Local Groups", "Chalcedon Canon 28: Yesterday and Today", Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, "The path to autocephaly and beyond: 'Miles to go before we sleep', "Agreement on the Autocephaly for the Orthodox Church in America", "His Grace, Bishop Joasaph (Bolotov): Bishop of Kodiak, Auxiliary of the Irkutsk Diocese", "His Grace, Bishop Innocent (Veniaminov) of Alaska: Equal to the Apostles of North America", "His Grace, Bishop Paul (Popov): Bishop of Novoarkhangelsk (Sitka), Auxiliary of the Kamchatka Diocese", "His Grace, Bishop Tikhon (Bellavin) of Moscow: Patriarch and Confessor of Moscow, Enlightener of North America", "The 1st All-American Sobor: How to Expand the Mission", "Archbishop Aftimios (Ofiesh, d. July 1966) of Brooklyn", "Orthodoxy in America, Part One: From the Russian Mission to the OCA", "The 14th All-American Sobor / The 1st All-American Council", "1970 Letter from Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras on Autocephaly", "Accusations of Misused Money Roil Orthodox Church", "Special Investigating Committee presents report to OCA Holy Synod and Metropolitan Council", "Report of the Special Investigating Committee", "OCA Holy Synod of Bishops grants retirement to His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman", "Bishop Jonah of Fort Worth Elected Metropolitan of All America and Canada", "Statement from the Holy Synod Regarding the Resignation of Metropolitan Jonah", "Update on the Financial Appeal for Ukrainian Refugee Relief", "Metropolitan Tikhon sends letter to Patriarch Kirill", "2006 Yearbook of Churches reflects 'robust immigrant history in U.S.", "How many Eastern Orthodox are there in the USA? [2]:68 It also indicates the states with the heaviest concentration of OCA parishes are, in order: Alaska (with 86), Pennsylvania (with 83), California (with 43) and New York (with 41). Alexei Krindatch, a sociologist of religion who focuses on Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches in the U.S., estimates that active adherents make up about 0.4% of the population.. Leonova, a member of the Orthodox Church in America, said she began following the trend of extremists joining Orthodoxy when she became aware of Heimbach's campus activities. Construction of the church has stretched over 90 years. Why had a group of conservative American Christians converted to Russian Orthodoxy? In 1914, a bomb exploded in the church. Wars and funding issues delayed completion. Abortion is a really big issue for these folks, the culture wars issues, really," Sarkisian said. With 105 m length and 93 m width it is the Orthodox church building that has the greatest groundfloor extent. [48], The diocese is the basic church body that comprises all the parishes of a determined geographical area. The top ten countries account for 89% of all Orthodox Christians in the world. He had established the Traditionalist Worker Party, which helped organize a deadly gathering of neo-Nazis and white nationalists at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017. After a tour of the church's interior, stroll through the gardens and along a path into one of the only old-growth forests left in Washington. Zezulin said she believes tolerance for these views may explain why extremists with xenophobic and nativist views have been joining. Top 10 Alcohol Consuming Countries In The World, The Biggest Heists and Bank Robberies in American History. Church "adherents" was the most inclusive category, consisting of anyone who occasionally participated in church life, while "regular attendees" are those who attend church on an almost weekly basis. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is fourth with 4.1 million members. In 1891, Alexis Toth brought a group of 361 Eastern Catholics into Orthodoxy. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, by comparison, was listed as having 440,000 adherents. The mission itself was instituted as a separate Diocese of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands on June 10, 1870, subsequent to the sale of Alaska to the United States in 1867. "I think it's racism based. He spoke in Washington in 2015. By the late 19th century, the Russian Orthodox Church had grown in other areas of the United States due to the arrival of immigrants from areas of Eastern and Central Europe, many of them formerly of the Eastern Catholic Churches ("Greek Catholics"), and from the Middle East. Since its formation on July 19, 1967, the Macedonian Orthodox Church has become autocephalous. "I do actually think it's growing," said George Demacopoulos, a professor and the director of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University. Some longtime ROCOR faithful have found these views bewildering, given the church's history. [16][26] The diocese was officially incorporated as the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America. The OCA is partly recognized as autocephalous and consists of more than 700 parishes, missions, communities, monasteries and institutions in the United States, Canada and Mexico. [27], Despite the conditions set out by Tikhon's decree for this temporary autonomy not being met, the American diocese of the Russian church declared self-governance in 1924, against the protests of the patriarchate, with which it had communication and which was capable of governance had its American branch been willing. On 24 February 2022, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Metropolitan Tikhon issued a statement saying, in part, 'I ask that the hostilities be ceased immediately and that President Putin put an end to the military operations. In response, the fourth All-American Sobor convened in April 1924. The church held the funeral for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. She said that the congregation and clergy also welcomed her African American husband when they married roughly 40 years ago. He was invited twice to speak at the conference of the Anglican Church in North America, in 2009 and 2012. The cathedral is one of the most impressive and unique in the country due to its Russian-inspired design. The quick answer: Far less than usually reported. But more recently, the size and location of Eastern Orthodox churches in the U.S. has changed. John A. Peck, Please help. The publication is endorsed by the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops and is being used by various Assembly committees as part of their research and planning. The Church intended for the cathedral to replace the old version which was located in lower Manhattan. "They settle, then begin to think about their religious lives.". One day after the report was released, Metropolitan Herman resigned from his position as Metropolitan. The churchs unique name reflects Groeschels attempt to bring in people who would not normally attend a service using market research to find out what would work. So then, well discuss the churches in the United States with the most members, as well as a mention of some of the most impressive buildings of worship. Both churches began with a small number of parishes in 2000 and are supported by a community of established Eastern European immigrants. All maps, graphics, flags, photos and original descriptions 2023 worldatlas.com, US States by Orthodox Christian Population, Countries With The Largest Orthodox Christian Populations. Doing the numbers on membership", "Statute of the OCA Article IV The Metropolitan", "Statute of the OCA Article VI The Diocese", "Statute of the OCA Article III The All-American Council", "All-American Councils - the 20th All-American Council", "Metropolitan Council, Holy Synod to hold joint session", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Orthodox_Church_in_America&oldid=1132185190, 84,900 total adherents, 33,800 regular attendees, This page was last edited on 7 January 2023, at 17:46. Unlike most Orthodox jurisdictions in the United States, the OCA does not have an affinity towards any particular foreign nationality, but most OCA members are ethnically Euro-American, and most OCA clergy are those who are born and raised in the United States. To help you on your journey of finding a church, Church Finder has created this list of Christian Denominations with over 140 Denomination Profiles, providing an overview of the largest Christian denominations in the United States and Canada.As you look to find Christian churches near you, Church Finder is here to help on your journey. Its also much newer, having been completed in the 1970s. In response, however, the Holy Synod created an auxiliary episcopal see in Alaska in 1796, and elected Fr. The United Methodist Church saw a 0.99 percent decrease but the mainline group remains the third largest church body with nearly 8 million members. It is currently led by patriarchal vicar Antonios (Al-Souri), following the retirement of Joseph (Al . Alaska is the only state with any sort of significant population at 5%. "They are anti-democratic by nature," Sarkisian said. The famous televangelist Billy Graham dedicated the churchs opening in 1974. Catholicism is the largest branch of Christianity with 1.329 billion [1] and the Catholic Church is the largest among churches. The church auditorium can hold 16,800 attendees, and the sermons reach more through television viewership. Construction World May 2018, "The biggest orthodox church in the world", "Mosaic icons began to be applied on the National Cathedral's iconostasis", Zoran Veljovic: the largest orthodox temple, "Aural Architecture: Music, Acoustics, and Ritual", cadastral parcel of the church of saint sava 1819/2 at 4830 m, Opstina Savski Venac, " ", https://zoranveljovic11.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/the-largest-orthodox-temple-h.jpg, " ", "Sofia Sights - Alexander Nevski Cathedral, Boyana Church, Bulgarian National Library and Tsar's Palace", Dr. Charis Alk. In 2014, he was excommunicated from the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America shortly after he had been accepted into it. Lena Zezulin and her husband, Christopher Foreman, were married in a ROCOR parish in Roslindale, Mass., in 1980. The one-time pastor at another church led a congregation of 40 people that grew rapidly. Bishop Innocent was elevated to archbishop in 1850. However, the OCA does have other minority ethnic dioceses for Romanian, Bulgarian, and Albanian immigrants. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America [ edit | edit source] With over one and a half million members, this is the largest body of Orthodox Churches in the United States. Both groups share a significant common history, in that a Syrian priest, Raphael Hawaweeny, was sent by the Moscow Patriarchate in the late 19th century as a missionary to Arabic-speaking Orthodox Christians living in North America. The 6th All-American Sobor, held in 1937, affirmed that while the Metropolia remained autonomous, it reported to the ROCOR in matters of faith. Heimbach went on to join another branch of Orthodoxy. California is the most populous state among the fifty states of the USA. Sowell attended college in Alabama (Auburn University) and was drafted into the professional football league. "[50] The Council is composed roughly of the Metropolitan, all bishops, priests, and selected lay delegates. It belongs to the Assembly and is available for free download on the Assembly's website. [16][22][30], Although there were periodic attempts at reconciliation between the Metropolia and the Russian Church over the next few decades, no serious progress was made. R. Michelle Green In 1933, the Russian Church declared the Metropolia to be schismatic. The church broadcasts sermons every week within the online multiplayer game Second Life., Source: AgnosticPreachersKid [derivative work: MathKnight CC BY-SA 3.0] via Wikimedia Commons. This is a list of the largest Eastern Orthodox church buildings in the world, based on area and capacity. It further stated that the OCA population in the continental United States declined between six and nine percent per year. During his brief time there, Heimbach's activities with other Orthodox converts on a college campus in Indiana drew scrutiny. The synod, for its part, suspended Metropolitan Platon and his clergy. Even if we only judge size based on area, it is still difficult to judge appropriately. Over time, these churches concentrated in the Northeast and West Coast. They're finding Orthodoxy through these YouTube shows. Joasaph as bishop. For his efforts, Toth was glorified as a saint by the OCA in 1994. Although these parishes were typically multi-ethnic, most received support from the missionary diocese. The churches are from various jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodox Church. "It is definitely an arm of soft diplomacy, and ROCOR is a really important part of that," Sarkisian said. Alejandra Molina VISALIA, Calif. (RNS) It's billed as the largest Catholic parish in the United States and it's being constructed about 200 miles north of Los Angeles, in what's often. Any Eastern Orthodox church building that has a capacity of 3,000 people or more, can be added to this page. [16][31], In the early 1960s, the Metropolia resumed communication with the Patriarch of Moscow. He and his family arrived at Unalaska Island on 29 July 1824. ", Lena Zezulin and her husband, Christopher Foreman, were married in a ROCOR parish in Roslindale, Mass., in 1980. After the Bolshevik Revolution, Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow directed all Russian Orthodox churches outside of Russia to govern themselves autonomously. With a capacity of 10,800 and a ground floor area of 37,674 square ft., the Church of Saint Sava Cathedral in Belgrade, Serbia, is the second largest Orthodox cathedral in the world. "It's an immigrant faith. Log in Later, Osteen opened doors for storm victims. The Orthodox Union, through its OU Advocacy Center, has participated as amicus curiae in many It had grown from ten parishes in 1890 to more than 350. "Putin is really interested in the church for its purposes for amplifying a particular aspect of Russian history politically, religiously, culturally. The majority of Christian Americans are Protestant Christians (140 million; 42%), though there are also significant numbers of American Roman Catholics (70 million; 21%) and other minority Christian denominations . It is home to the largest number of Orthodox Christians. In 1905, Archbishop Tikhon oversaw the creation of an Orthodox seminary in Minneapolis, Minnesota. [17] In 1800, Baranov placed the remaining monks under house arrest and forbade them to have any further contact with the local population. [11], Ethnic groups within the American diocese began to re-align themselves with other national churches. For example, the Hagia Sophia is included it was originally built as a church but was later converted into a mosque. Recognizing the needs of the growing multi-ethnic Orthodox community, he recommended reforming the missionary diocese into a self-supporting American diocese, composed of numerous ethnic auxiliary dioceses. It is the tallest habitable building in Washington DC and was designated as a high-order national shrine by the Catholic Church. The Council is headed by a chairman (the current Metropolitan), and is composed of the OCA's chancellor, secretary, treasurer, and selected clergy and lay delegates. The purpose of the All-American Council is to discuss and vote on Church matters. [20] On 20 November 1920, Patriarch Tikhon formally authorized Russian Orthodox bishops to set up temporarily independent organizations, until such time as normal communications with and governance from the patriarchate could be restored. The church cathedral, a tower with a stained glass face, was built as the audience grew for its pastor Dennis Kennedy. Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play Major League Baseball had his funeral held there. In order to convince the Russian imperial court of the seriousness of his colonial ambitions, Shelikhov recruited volunteers from the Valaam, an environment that appears strikingly similar to the Kodiak archipelago's landscape, and Konevitsa monasteries to travel to the new colony. Source: By Jimmy Baikovicius [CC BY-SA 2.0] via Wikimedia Commons. By 2014, North Point had six satellite campuses. On 13 November 2012, an extraordinary All-American Council elected Archbishop Tikhon (Mollard) of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania as the Metropolitan of All-America and Canada. This "Eastern Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity" was typical of the earliest Orthodox parishes in America: it was multi-ethnic, composed of Greeks, Slavs, and Arabs, and multi-lingual, services . [17] It was not until 1823 that the Holy Synod sent instructions for a new priest to travel to Alaska. She also, at one time, seemed to support QAnon conspiracy theories but has since renounced QAnon. As Orthodox Christians, we condemn violence and aggression. She recently published a book based on her research that's titled Between Heaven and Russia: Religious Conversion and Political Apostasy in Appalachia. One of the churchs pastors is former NFL draft pick Mayo Sowell. The Episcopalian church was first conceived in 1792 as a place of national worship. "It's outrageous, given that we came here as refugees and were accepted," she said. Of particular concern are the ways in which these individuals are networking with outside extremist groups and broadcasting their ideologies in the name of Orthodoxy. However, in the USA, the religion is still taking ground with only a small section of the entire population subscribing to the faith. Orthodoxy is one of the Christian denominations practiced in the US and around the world. Less than four years after his election, Metropolitan Jonah was asked by the Holy Synod, in a unanimous decision, to resign from his position. His plan called for Russian (New York), Arab (Brooklyn), Serbian (Chicago), and Greek dioceses. The largest Orthodox Church in the world is the Hagia Sophia, which was the Orthodox equivalent to the Vatican, which, following the capture of Constantinople by Islamists (& re-named Istanbul), was seized and turned into a mosque which it remains to the present day. Witzke, a MAGA supporter who ran on an anti-immigration platform in 2020, has appeared on Orthodox podcasts, where she has identified herself as aligned with the white nationalist America First movement. Metropolitan Jonah also sought to improve relations with non-Orthodox groups and especially sought to repair the relations between the OCA and traditional Anglican groups. The metropolitan is elected, when necessary, by the Holy Synod at an All-American Council (a general council of OCA clergy and laity). The refusal of the American branch to submit to the patriarchate thus based itself officially on a document whose conditions it had not met. Additionally, he called for the formation of a governing council, composed of clergy and laity, which would meet to discuss administrative and canonical issues. In 1811, however, the Holy Synod officially closed the episcopal see. "It's typically an immigrant faith, so I was really interested in that experience and why it spoke to converts," said Riccardi-Swartz, a postdoctoral fellow in the Recovering Truth project at Arizona State University. The Serbian Orthodox Church 65 Overlook Circle New Rochelle, NY 10804 Telephone: 914-633-9000 E-mail: secretary@easterndiocese.org Website Bishop of Western America The Serbian Orthodox Church 1621 W Garvey Avenue Alhambra, CA 91803 Phone:626-289-9061 Fax:626-284-1484 E-mail: info@westsrbdio.org Website Bishop of New Gracanica-Midwestern America The study, which was part of the national Religious Congregations and Membership Study 2010, also shows that just 27 percent of members attend Orthodox churches regularly. Saint Innocent of Alaska served as the first bishop of the diocese and many Alaskan natives were converted to Orthodoxy. And if you look at the geography, those parishes were planted not in traditional lands of Orthodoxy," said Krindatch. Wheeler alleged that millions of dollars in donations to the church were improperly used for personal expenses or to cover shortfalls in church accounts. The number totals to 1% of the state's entire population. Greek Orthodox Archdiocese (typically claimed 1,954,500* members versus 440,000 actual adherents) Orthodox Church in America (1,000,000* versus 115,000 actual adherents) * membership figures are from the Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches, National Council of Churches, 2000. But Leonova said this is fiction. In terms of membership, of all US Orthodox Christian Churches, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA) is by far the largest one. More precisely 6,300 worshipers on the nave floor and 700 choirs (balconies). In 2005, the city of Houston leased a former sports arena, the Compaq Center, to Joel Osteen, which he converted into a church at a cost of $100 million. The number for Ukraine, by the way, includes all groups claiming to be Orthodox. In ROCOR, they felt they had found a church that has remained the same, regardless of place, time and politics. There are no age or term limits for the metropolitan, and he may retire at any time, but usually does so only for health-related reasons. Source: Hartford Institute for Religion Research February 2002. The United Methodist Church is second with 7.6 million members. Alaska Alaska has the largest Orthodox population by percentage of the state population at 5%. [28], Despite the declaration of self-governance, Kedrovsky and the Living Church were awarded the church's diocesan cathedral in New York City. The Washington National Cathedral is the place where we see the major religious-themed events involving American politicians take place. Our festivals seem to help evangelize. Most times, services are conducted outdoors. Patriarch Filaret, center, heads the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate, the largest Ukrainian congregation seeking independence from Moscow. In 1926, the Serbs aligned with the Serbian Orthodox Church. In the temple galleries (underground), can be accommodated 3,000 worshipers. They're vocal online. The first Orthodox Church in the continental United States was established during the Civil War in New Orleans by Greek cotton merchants (1864). The case study that Riccardi-Swartz provides adds detail and color to a trend that a handful of historians and journalists have documented for nearly a decade. The map "Orthodox Bishops and Parishes in the USA." (2018) This map was created in my capacity of the Research Coordinator for the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA. Following Patriarch Tikhon's death, the Russian Orthodox Church, led by Metropolitan Sergius, began cooperating with the Soviet government. Life.Church is the largest in America based on reported attendance and membership statistics. Zezulin said it tracked with the church's expansion to new regions of the U.S., where it was drawing new conservative converts. The granting of autocephaly by the Moscow Patriarchate was strongly condemned by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople as an act that exceeded the formers authority and violated the canons. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, with its headquarters located in the City of New York, is an Eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, The mission of the Archdiocese is to proclaim the Gospel of Christ, to teach and spread the Orthodox Christian faith, to energize, cultivate, and guide the life of the Church in the United States of America according to the Orthodox . On 5 March 1907, the first All-American Sobor convened in Mayfield, Pennsylvania. Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a Christmas liturgy at the Transfiguration Cathedral in St. Petersburg early on Jan. 7, 2020. The Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in America was granted autocephaly by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1970, and renamed the Orthodox Church in America. More than four in ten (41%) identify as Protestant (including 23% who are not evangelical and 18% who are non-evangelical), 11% as Catholic, 1% as Latter-day Saint, and 1% as Orthodox Christian. [22] As a result of the realignments, Aftimios (Ofiesh) and Platon chartered the American Orthodox Catholic Church in 1927. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. The longer answer: According to a recent study of Orthodoxy in the United States, the real membership (number of adult adherents and their children) in all Eastern Christian Churches in the USA can be estimated atabout 1,200,000 persons. [27] In 1935, an agreement entitled "Temporary Regulations of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad" was signed that normalized relations between the Metropolia and the ROCOR. Along with the largest volume and interior area, 127 m high and 126 m long, it is the tallest and longest Orthodox church building in the world. A total of 7,000 peoples/worshipers can attend at the holy liturgy in the same time, with 1,000 choirs (three places), clergy, three levels of balconies right-left, and 6,000 pilgrims. [16], A third Russian church, the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Church Abroad (also known as the Karlovtsy Synod and later, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia or ROCOR), formed in 1921. It is tasked with implementing the decisions of the All-American Council, as well as handling the Church's budgetary concerns. VirtueOnline is the Anglican Communion's largest Biblically Orthodox Online News Service, read by more than 4,000,000 readers in 170 countries each year. [8] Among the churches that do not recognize it is the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, which argues that the Russian Church did not have the authority to grant autocephaly, partly because the Russian Church at the time was considered to be heavily influenced by the Soviet government. Many of these parishes also use English primarily or exclusively in worship. The map shows: "So what it means [is], we have more parishes, but which are smaller in size. Many autocephalous churches, the Russian Church included, were not recognized as such for many years, albeit their autocephaly was granted by the Ecumenical Patriarchate. In a viral social media clip pulled from a far-right internet talk show on the eve of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, former Republican U.S. Senate candidate Lauren Witzke of Delaware praised Russia as a "Christian nationalist nation."

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