Editing Orthodox Church in America (section)

===Revolution and turmoil===
[[Image:Albanian Orthodox Church in Worcester.jpg|thumb|The Albanian Orthodox Church in [[Worcester, Massachusetts]]]]

The [[Russian Revolution of 1917]] and the subsequent establishment of the [[Communism|Communist]] [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] government ushered in a period of repression for the Russian Orthodox Church. Church property was confiscated and, when Patriarch Tikhon resisted, he was imprisoned from April 1922 until June 1923.{{r|tikhon}} 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.{{r|ukaz362}}

Ethnic groups within the American diocese began to re-align themselves with other national churches. In 1918, a group of [[Ukrainians]] in [[Canada]] formed the [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada|Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church in Canada]], and in 1922, the [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America]] was established. In 1926, the Serbs aligned with the [[Serbian Orthodox Church]].{{refn|name="ware"|{{Cite book |last=Ware |first=Timothy |url={{GBurl|id=f7D-5Q-Q19MC}} |title=The Orthodox Church |date=1993 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=978-0-1401-4656-1 |edition=2nd |oclc=1042829166 |ol=7348766M |author-link=Kallistos (Ware)}}}} As a result of the realignments, [[Aftimios (Ofiesh)]] and Platon chartered the [[American Orthodox Catholic Church]] in 1927.{{refn|{{Cite web |title=The Collapse of the Immigrant Church |url=https://www.oca.org/history-archives/orthodox-christians-na/chapter-5 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201006033423/https://www.oca.org/history-archives/orthodox-christians-na/chapter-5 |archive-date=2020-10-06 |access-date=2020-09-21 |website=OCA |language=en-US}}}}{{refn|{{Cite web |last=Woerl |first=Michael |date=July 2016 |title=Archbishop Aftimios (Ofiesh, d. July 1966) of Brooklyn |url=http://www.rocorstudies.org/2016/12/01/archbishop-aftimios-abdullah-ofiesh-22-october-1880-24-july-1966/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201006033328/https://www.rocorstudies.org/2016/12/01/archbishop-aftimios-abdullah-ofiesh-22-october-1880-24-july-1966/ |archive-date=2020-10-06 |access-date=2020-09-21 |website=ROCOR Studies |language=en-US}}}}

In Soviet Russia, a splinter group known as the [[Living Church]] gained official state recognition in place of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1922. In the United States, a group of Living Church clergy led by John Kedrovsky attempted to [[Deposition (politics)|depose]] ruling American hierarch Bishop [[Alexander (Nemolovsky)]]. Bishop Alexander, in addition to the political and ethnic struggles of his diocese, had also to deal with mounting Church debt as a result of the loss of funds from the Russian Church. He was forced to [[Mortgage law|mortgage]] Church property to pay [[creditor]]s and was replaced, in 1922, by Archbishop [[Platon (Rozhdestvensky)]], who had previously served as archbishop of the diocese from 1907 to 1914.{{r|stokoe}}

After Archbishop Platon's return, he was elected Metropolitan of All America and Canada at the third All-American Sobor in November 1922.{{refn|name="pittsburgh"|{{Cite web |last=Liberovsky |first=Alexis |title=The 3rd All-American Sobor |url=https://www.oca.org/history-archives/aacs/the-3rd-all-american-sobor |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930055434/https://www.oca.org/history-archives/aacs/the-3rd-all-american-sobor |archive-date=2020-09-30 |access-date=2022-04-19 |website=OCA |language=en-US}}}} Soon after, Communist authorities in Russia (in collaboration with the Living Church) attempted to seize church assets in the United States. In response, the fourth All-American Sobor convened in April 1924. During the Sobor, the historic step of declaring the North American diocese to be temporarily self-governing was taken. This was meant to be necessary only until relations with the Russian Church could be normalized, and the justification for the move was the earlier decree by Patriarch Tikhon.{{r|stokoe}}{{refn|name="detroit"|{{Cite web |last=Liberovsky |first=Alexis |title=The 4th All-American Sobor |url=https://www.oca.org/history-archives/aacs/the-4th-all-american-sobor |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210701144705/https://www.oca.org/history-archives/aacs/the-4th-all-american-sobor |archive-date=2021-07-01 |access-date=2022-04-19 |website=OCA |language=en-US}}}} The diocese was officially incorporated as the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America.{{refn|name="twentieth"|{{Cite book |last=Hopko |first=Thomas |title=The Orthodox Faith |isbn=978-0-86642-087-7 |volume=3 |language=en-US |chapter=Orthodoxy in America, Part One: From the Russian Mission to the OCA |year=2016 |publisher=St Vladimir's Seminary Press |author-link=Thomas Hopko |access-date=2022-04-19 |chapter-url=https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/church-history/twentieth-century/orthodoxy-in-america-part-one-from-the-russian-mission-to-the-oca |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210722193227/https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/church-history/twentieth-century/orthodoxy-in-america-part-one-from-the-russian-mission-to-the-oca |archive-date=2021-07-22 |url-status=live}}}}

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. The refusal of the American branch to submit to the patriarchate thus based itself officially on a document whose conditions it had not met. In reality, however, it was a fear of Communism and a belief that the patriarchate had been compromised which fueled the rebellion, paired with a desire on the part of the Metropolia to dissociate itself from the [[Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia]] (ROCOR) of which it had allegedly been part.{{refn|name="ROCOR/OCA"|{{OrthodoxWiki link|ROCOR and OCA}}}}

Despite the declaration of self-governance, Kedrovsky and the Living Church were awarded the church's diocesan cathedral in New York City. To prevent further loss of property, the diocese allowed individual parishes to take ownership of their properties, which made them effectively independent. This, combined with the increasing number of ethnic parishes aligning themselves with other Orthodox jurisdictions (as well as some non-Orthodox), led to a unique situation in Orthodox America whereby multiple jurisdictions overlapped geographically. The remainder of the American Church became known informally as the Metropolia (or under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan). Following Patriarch Tikhon's death, the Russian Orthodox Church, led by [[Patriarch Sergius I of Moscow|Metropolitan Sergius]], began cooperating with the Soviet government. In 1933, the Russian Church declared the Metropolia to be schismatic.{{r|stokoe}}

A third Russian church, the [[Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia|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. The synod saw itself as representing all Russian Orthodox abroad, including the Metropolia. The Metropolia cooperated with the synod at first but severed relations with them in 1926, citing the synod's increasing claims of authority in America. The synod, for its part, suspended Metropolitan Platon and his clergy.{{r|twentieth}} In 1935, an agreement entitled "Temporary Regulations of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad" was signed that normalized relations between the Metropolia and the ROCOR. The 6th All-American Sobor, held in 1937, affirmed that while the Metropolia remained autonomous, it reported to the ROCOR in matters of faith.{{r|stokoe|ware}}{{refn|name="sixth"|{{Cite web |last=Liberovsky |first=Alexis |title=The 6th All-American Sobor |url=https://www.oca.org/history-archives/aacs/the-6th-all-american-sobor |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220404013621/https://www.oca.org/history-archives/aacs/the-6th-all-american-sobor |archive-date=2022-04-04 |access-date=2022-04-19 |website=OCA |language=en-US}}}}

The ROCOR, forced to leave [[Yugoslavia]] toward the end of [[World War II]], eventually established its base of operations in New York City. In 1946, it was decided at the 7th All-American Sobor that the Metropolia would sever its ties with the ROCOR and attempt to return to the Patriarchate of Moscow. This return was proposed with the stipulation that the Metropolia be allowed to retain its autonomy. When this condition was not met, the Metropolia continued as a self-governing church.{{r|stokoe|ware}}{{refn|name="seventh"|{{Cite web |last=Liberovsky |first=Alexis |title=The 7th All-American Sobor |url=https://www.oca.org/history-archives/aacs/the-7th-all-american-sobor |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055940/https://www.oca.org/history-archives/aacs/the-7th-all-american-sobor |archive-date=2016-03-04 |access-date=2022-04-19 |website=OCA |language=en-US}}}}

Although there were periodic attempts at reconciliation between the Metropolia and the Russian Church over the next few decades, no serious progress was made. During this time, the ethnic character of the Metropolia began to change. Since many Russian immigrants to America aligned themselves with the vocally anti-Communist ROCOR, the Metropolia experienced its growth increasingly through the addition of English-speaking [[Religious conversion|converts]]. As a result, the ethnic makeup of the Metropolia began to shift away from a purely [[Slavic peoples|Slavic]] one that had included mainly Russians, [[Ukrainians]], [[Galicia (Central Europe)|Galicia]]ns,{{clarify|date=June 2017}} and [[Rusyns]].{{r|stokoe}}