Springfield, Virginia, November 17, 2025
Fr. Roman (left), Met. Leonty (right)
The Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America has formally tasked its Canonization Committee to begin investigating the cases of two holy men who served in America. This decision was preceded by diocesan requests.
In September, the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of the OCA announced that it had formally requested the canonization of Archimandrite Roman (Braga), a priest who survived communist persecution in Romania before spending his final four decades serving Orthodox communities in the United States.
In October, His Eminence Archbishop Michael of New York and New Jersey announced that he had submitted documents calling for an investigation into the matter of canonizing His Eminence Metropolitan Leonty (Turkevich), the revered primate of the North American Metropolia (which later became the OCA) from 1950 until his repose in 1965.
And at its session on November 11, the OCA Synod considered these requests “and tasked the Canonization Committee with formally investigating their potential canonization,” the OCA reports.
Thus, Fr. Roman and Met. Leonty could be the next saints to be canonized by the OCA, following upon the recent canonization and glorification of St. Olga of Alaska.
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