Brooklyn, New York, June 4, 2020
The defrocked Alexander Belya (left), with Abp. Elpidophoros (center), and the suspended Alexander Belya (second from right). Photo: slavonic.org
Archbishop Elpidophoros of the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America visited the newly-created Slavic Vicariate for the first time on May 24. During his visit, he gifted the vicariate with relics of St. Spyridon of Tremithus and blessed the group’s new website.
The creation of the Vicariate for the Orthodox Christian Communities of Slavic Tradition was announced by Abp. Elpidophoros on March 9.
While new clergy can now apply to join the vicariate, the vicariate’s founding clergy are all canonically defrocked, suspended, or closely associated with the defrocked and suspended clergy. The vicar of the new group, Alexander Belya, was defrocked by ROCOR after he abandoned the jurisdiction without a canonical release in protest over not being chosen for the episcopacy.
His father, Archpriest Alexander Belya, also abandoned ROCOR and is currently under suspension by its Holy Synod. Archpriest Ioann Spasyuk was defrocked by the Belarusian Orthodox Church in the 1990s and spent nearly 30 years in a number of schismatic groups. The other clergy of the Vicariate serve with the elder Belya and followed him into GOARCH.
Abp. Elpidophoros’ visit coincided with the vicariate’s patronal feast of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, celebrated at the Cathedral of St. John the Forerunner in Brooklyn, which the Belyas brought into GOARCH with them.
The Liturgy was presided over by Abp. Elpidophoros, with the vicariate’s clergy concelebrating. It was celebrated in Church Slavonic, English, and Greek, reports the vicariate on its new website. Parishioners were absent, however, due to New York’s ban on public gatherings.
During the service, Abp. Elpidophoros awarded the cathedral deacons. Following the Liturgy, “Archimandrite” Alexander presented an icon of St. John of San Francisco to the GOARCH primate, and Abp. Elpidophoros, in turn, presented a reliquary with a piece of the relics of St. Spyridon and a Byzantine-style icon of the Transfiguration of the Lord.
The vicariate’s new website was also presented to Abp. Elpidophoros during his visit, who offered his blessing. The site presents information on the Archdiocese, the vicariate, and the clergy, parishes, and schools of the vicariate.
Every page of the website also presents linked images from the Belyas’ visits to Elder Ephraim, His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of Serbia, and His Holiness Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia.
While the images give the impression that these reputable leaders in the Orthodox world support GOARCH’s creation of the Slavic Vicariate, all of the visits took place years before the creation of the Vicariate, when the Belyas were still canonical clergy and members of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.
Conversely, after the creation of the vicariate, all clergy of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America were instructed to have no interaction with its clergy and members, as were the clergy of the New York-New Jersey Diocese of the Orthodox Church in America.
