Archbishop Gregory (Afonsky) (Russian: Архиепископ Григорий (Афонский)) (April 17, 1925 - April 14, 2008) was the Archbishop of Sitka and Alaska from 1973 to 1995, and author of books on Theology and Orthodoxy in America in both Russian and English. Events 69 - After the First Battle of Bedriacum, Vitellius becomes Roman Emperor. Year 1925 ( MCMXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 43 BC - Battle of Forum Gallorum: Mark Antony, besieging Julius Caesar 's assassin Decimus Junius Brutus in 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common In Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated Bishop. In the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion and others this means that they lead The Orthodox Church in America Diocese of Alaska is a Diocese of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective Estimates of the number of Eastern Orthodox adherents in North America vary considerably depending on methodology ( as well as the definition of the term "adherent") and generally fall Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States He was a key figure in the establishment and elevation of what is now St. Herman's Orthodox Theological Seminary,^[1] and served as episcopal moderator of the Department of History and Archives and chairman of the Canonization Commission for the Orthodox Church in America. Saint Herman’s Orthodox Theological Seminary is an Orthodox Christian Seminary located in Kodiak Alaska with a campus in Anchorage. The Orthodox Church in America ( OCA) is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church in North America.

Contents 1 Early life 2 America 3 Alaska 4 Death 5 Selected Bibliography 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

Early life

Archbishop Gregory was born George Sergeievich Afonsky in Kiev, Ukraine to Archpriest Sergei and Matushka Vera Afonsky, as one of five other children: Boris, Ariadna, Michael, Nina, and Sergei. Kiev, also known as Kyiv ( Ukrainian:, Kyiv, ˈkɪjiw Russian:, Kiyev; see also Cities' alternative names) is the Ukraine (Україна Ukrayina, /ukrɑˈjinɑ/ is a country in Eastern Europe. "Forane" redirects here For the veterinary anesthetic see Isoflurane. George's maternal grandfather was Russian New Martyr and Priest Michael Jedlinsky. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending The title of New Martyr or Neomartyr ( Greek: νεο, neo, the prefix for "new" and μάρτυς, martys, "witness" A priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites in particular rites of sacrifice to and propitiation of a deity or deities ^[2]

Because of religious persecution, times were dangerous for the Afonsky-Jedlinsky family. At one point, George's father was the only functioning priest in Kiev, with his mother singlehandedly baking all the prosphora and George carrying it to church with his siblings. A prosphoron ( Greek: πρόσφορον offering) is a small loaf of Bread used in Orthodox Christian liturgies. ^[3] In 1937, his grandfather was executed during the Soviet anti-religious campaigns. The history of Orthodoxy Christianity (and other religions in the Soviet Union was not limited to this story of repression and secularization ^[4]

With the advent of the Second World War and subsequent occupation of Ukraine by Axis troops, George was separated from his family at 17 and taken by the Nazis to work in a labor camp. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Operation Barbarossa ( Unternehmen Barbarossa) was the Codename for Nazi Germany 's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II The Axis powers also known as the Axis alliance Axis nations Axis countries or sometimes just the Axis were those Countries Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German Arbeitslager is a German language word which means Labor camp. After the War, in 1949, he received his Bachelor's Degree from the Real Gymnasium of Wendling, Austria, and emigrated to the United States to live with his uncle, noted religious composer and conductor Nicholas P. Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A bachelor's degree is usually an Undergraduate Academic degree awarded for a course or major that generally lasts for three four or in some cases and The Realschule is a type of Secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. Wendling is a municipality in the district of Grieskirchen in Upper Austria, Austria. Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A composer (literally meaning 'one who puts together' is a person who creates Music, usually in the medium of notation, for Interpretation and Performance Conducting is the act of directing a Musical performance by way of visible gestures Afonsky.

America

George began serving as choir conductor and psalm-reader for various Orthodox parishes in the New Jersey-Connecticut area. New Jersey ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. Connecticut ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. Graduating from Hofstra University, George entered St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in 1965. Hofstra University is a private Nonsectarian, Coeducational institution of higher learning located in the Village of Hempstead and the hamlet of Uniondale Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary is an Orthodox Christian Seminary located in Crestwood New York in the United States. In the same year, he was ordained as a deacon, then elevated to Priest, and was assigned to the St. Deacon is a role in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind but which varies among theological and denominational traditions A priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites in particular rites of sacrifice to and propitiation of a deity or deities Sergius Chapel at the Metropolitan's Chancery in Syosset, New York, functioning also as Church archivist until 1971. In Hierarchical Christian churches the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the Diocesan bishop or A diocesan chancery is the branch of administration which handles all written documents used in the official government of a Roman Catholic or Anglican Diocese Syosset is a hamlet (and a Census-designated place) in Nassau County, New York, within the Town of Oyster Bay. An archivist is a professional who assesses collects organizes preserves maintains control over and provides access to information determined to have long-term value Year 1971 ( MCMLXXI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. Continuing his education, Fr. George received first a Bachelor's, and then a Master's Degree in Theology from St. Sergius Seminary (in 1968 and 1970, respectively); and at the same time a Master of Arts from Hoftra with a Candidacy in Theology. Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1970 ( MCMLXX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A Master of Arts ( Latin: Magister Artium) is a Postgraduate academic Master's degree awarded by universities in a large

In 1971, Fr. George was sent to St. Nicholas Church in Portland, Oregon as rector. Portland is a city located in the Northwestern United States, near the Confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers The word rector ("ruler" from the Latin regere and Rector meaning "Teacher" In Latin has a number of different meanings but all of them indicate an academic In 1973, he was elected Bishop to the Diocese of Sitka and Alaska. Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent He become tonsured a monk at St. Tonsure is the practice of some Christian churches mystics Buddhist novices and Monks and some Hindu temples of cutting the Hair from the MONK is a Monte Carlo software package for simulating nuclear processes particularly for the purpose of determining the neutron multiplication factor or k-effective Tikhon Orthodox Monastary, becoming renamed for St. Gregory the Theologian, and quickly elevated therefrom to the ranks of Archpriest and then Archmandrite. Gregory of Nazianzus (329 – January 25 389) (also known as Gregory the Theologian or Gregory Nazianzen) was a 4th-century Archbishop The title Archimandrite ( Greek: - archimandrites) primarily used in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches

Alaska

Archmandrite Gregory was sent to Juneau and then Kenai, where he was introduced to the Diocesan Council and St. Herman's Pastoral School established a year earlier by Archpriest Joseph P. Kreta. Consecration took place at St. Michael's Cathedral on May 13 in Sitka by Metropolitan Ireney (Bekish), Archbishop Kiprian (Borisevich), and Bishop Theodosius (Lazor), along with most of the 17 priests of the Diocese. Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service usually religious St Michael's Cathedral, also known as Cathedral of St Michael the Archangel, in Sitka Alaska, has been a National Historic Landmark since 1962 Events 1497 - Pope Alexander VI excommunicates Girolamo Savonarola. Metropolitan Ireney (Bekish (b John Bekish in Mezhirech, Lublin Province in what is now Poland on October 2, 1892, d Metropolitan Theodosius (Lazor (b 1933 in Canonsburg PA) was the primate of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA from 1977 until his retirement in 2002 It was the first time a bishop was consecrated in Alaska, and also for Alaska. The event was broadcast on statewide radio.

Bishop Gregory was key in the growth of St. Herman's Pastoral School, moving it soon to Kodiak, and by 1976 it being elevated to a Theological Seminary. Year 1976 ( MCMLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Throughout his term as Alaskan Hierarch, Bishop Gregory taught in the Seminary as a professor of Alaska Church History, Dogmatic Theology, and Canon Law. In those hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ecclesiastical law system an ordinary is an officer of the church who by reason of office Dogmatic Theology is that part of theology which treats the theoretical truths of faith concerning God and his works whereas Moral theology has Canon law is internal ecclesiastical law governing the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Anglican Communion of churches ^[5]

He served an important role in revitalizing the local Orthodox community, attending the annual Kushkokwim and Yukon Conferences, and later the to-be-established Nushagak and Iliamna Conferences as well. Within four years of his ordination, Bishop Gregory had visited them all of the 87 parishes and communities, making sure to travel to at least 10-15 each year. By 1993, he had ordained 25 priests, 5 deacons, tonsured various readers, and established new parishes via the construction of new churches and chapels or the replacement of old ones. Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) A chapel is a holy place or area of Worship for Christians, which may be attached to an institution such as a large church, a College, a He believed his Episcopacy in Alaska to be a gift from God, saying he had no other life but that dedicated to the Orthodox Church in Alaska. ^[6] His love and dedication made him well loved by his flock, especially the Alaska Natives. Alaska Natives are Indigenous peoples of the Americas native to the state of Alaska within the United States.

After the Collapse of the Soviet Union, Bishop Gregory was reunited with his brother Sergei, still living in Kiev, and gained the possibility to travel to both the Ukraine and Russia. The Soviet Union 's collapse into independent nations began early in 1985 On March 23, 1995, he was elevated for his efforts to the rank of Archbishop by the Holy Synod, but by July 20, the regretfully retired from his due to failing health, leaving his post as the longest-reigning hierarch of the Alaskan Diocese. Events 1174 - Jocelin, Abbot of Melrose, is elected Bishop of Glasgow. Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 Events 1304 - Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle - King Edward I of England takes the last rebel stronghold He spent his final years living in Jackson Township, New Jersey, living amongst the Russian-American Community of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin Church. Jackson Township, named after Andrew Jackson, is a township in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. Russian Americans are Americans whose ancestors were born in Russia.

Death

After a period of declining health, Archbishop Gregory died on April 15, 2008, three days before his birthday. Events 1450 - Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English The next day a memorial service was already being held in Sitka by Bishop Nikolai (Soraich),^[7][8] and a Litany of Requiem was performed during the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts in the Church of St. Ektenia (from ἐκτένεια ekténeia; literally "diligence" often called simply Litany, is a prayerful petition in the Eastern Orthodox The service In the Eastern Church, the various prayers for the departed have as their purpose to pray for the repose of the departed to comfort the living The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, informally Presanctified Liturgy, is an Eastern Christian liturgical service for the distribution of communion Catherine the Great Martyr in-the-Fields in the Zamoskvorechie suburb of Moscow by Archmandrite Zacchaeus (Wood) and Priest Vadim Leonov. History Old Muscovy This section is based on PVSytin's History of Moscow Streets' Territories on the right (southern bank of Moskva Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of

The Archbishop's funeral services were presided over by Rector Archpriest John Prokopiuk, along with Bishop Tikhon (Mollard) of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania on the evening of the 18th,^[9] and by Metropolitan Herman (Swaiko) of All America and Canada for interment on the 19th, the holiday of Lazarus Saturday. A Christian burial is the Burial of a deceased person with ecclesiastical rites typically in Consecrated ground The Orthodox Church in America Diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania is a Diocese of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA Metropolitan Herman (Swaiko (b Joseph Swaiko in Briarford, Pennsylvania on February 1, 1932) is the former primate of Lazarus Saturday, in the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite, is the day before Palm Sunday Also present were clergy and faithful of the Archbishop's former Alaskan flock. He is buried in the surrounding St. Vladimir's Russian Orthodox Cemetery, to the left of the church and behind the former grave site of Russian Civil War hero General Anton Ivanovich Denikin. The Russian Civil War (1917–1923 was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed Anton Ivanovich Denikin (Анто́н Ива́нович Дени́кин ( December 16, 1872 – August 8, 1947) was Lieutenant General

Selected Bibliography

• Православное учение о епископе: догматическое, святоотеческое, каноническое (1968) (as Fr. Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. George Afonsky)
• A History of the Orthodox Church in Alaska, 1794-1917 (1977)
• A History of the Orthodox Church in America, 1917-1934 (1994)
• Christ and the Church: In Orthodox Teaching and Tradition (2001) (text preview)
  • Иисус Христос и Его Церковь (2002)
• Введение в Каноническое Право Православной Церкви: по учению отечественной канонической школы XIX-XX веков (2001)

See also

• Orthodox Church in America
• Bibliography of Eastern Orthodoxy in America

References

External links

• OrthodoxWiki Article
• St. Mary's Russian Orthodox Church
• The Russian Orthodox Diocese of Alaska
• The Orthodox Church in America
• (Russian) Архиерей: Григорий (Афонский)

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