Guardian of Hawaiian icon appointed head of new ROCOR Pacific Islands Deanery

Honolulu, September 24, 2026

Photo: Holy Theotokos of Iveron Russian Orthodox Church Photo: Holy Theotokos of Iveron Russian Orthodox Church     

ROCOR’s Western American Diocese has established a new Pacific Islands Deanery, appointing the guardian of Hawaii’s wonderworking Iveron Icon as its first dean.

By decree of His Eminence Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco and Western America, Fr. Nectarios Yangson, rector of Holy Theotokos of Iveron Russian Orthodox Church in Hawaii and guardian of the wonderworking, myrrh-streaming Hawaiian Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, has been appointed dean of the Pacific Islands, his parish reports.

The new deanery brings together Orthodox communities and missions across Hawaii, the Mariana Islands, Guam, the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, and Tahiti in French Polynesia.

The announcement comes amid a period of missionary growth in the region, with new missions being planted, churches under construction, and catechumens preparing for Baptism across Oceania.

More than 100 people have been baptized at the Holy Theotokos of Iveron Church in the past year.

The Western American Diocese also recently announced the establishment of a new Southwestern Deanery, led by Archpriest John Peck.

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9/24/2026

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