The Line of Apostolic Succession for THEOCACNA through the Russian Orthodox Church before 1917, notably through Archbishops Makarij, Evdokim, Aftimios Ofiesh, Sophronius Bishara, John More-Moreno, Robert C Adair, and Dismas Markle
Below is the line of Primary Consecrators:
Apostles and Early Church Fathers
St. Andrew the Apostle 27
Stachys the Apostle 38-54
Onesimus
54-68
Polycarpus I 69-89
Plutarch 89-105
Sedecion 105-114
Diogenes
114-129
Eleutherius 129-136
Felix 136-141
Polycarpus II
141-144
Athendodorus 144-148
Euzois 148-154
Laurence 154-166
Alypius
166-169
Pertinax 169-187
Olympians 187-198
Mark I
198-211
Philadelphus 211-217
Ciriacus I 217-230
Castinus
230-237
Eugenius I 237-242
Titus 242-272
Dometius 272-284
Rufinus I
284-293
Probus 293-306
Metrophanes 306-314
Alexander 314-337
Patriarchs of Greece
Paul I 337-339, 341-342, 346-351
Eusebius of Nicomedia
339-341
Macedonius I 342-346, 351-360
Eudoxius of Antioch
360-370
Demophilus 370-379
Euagrius 379
Gregory I the Theologian
379-381
Nectarius 381-397
John I Chrysostom 398-404
Arsacius
of Tarsus 404-405
Atticus 406-425
Sisinius I 426-427
Nestorius
428-431
Maximianus 431-434
Proclus 434-446
Phlabianus 446-449
Ecumenical Patriarchs of Constantinople
Anatolius 449-458
Gennadius I 458-471
Acacius 471-488
Phrabitas
488-449
Euphemius 489-495
Macedonus II 495-511
Timotheus I
511-518
John II of Cappadocia 518-520
Epiphanius 520-535
Anthimus I
535-536
Menas 536-552
Eutychius 552-565, 577-582
John III Scholasticus
565-577
John IV Nesteutes 582-595
Cyriacus 596-606
Thomas I
607-610
Sergius I 610-638
Pyrrhus I 638-641, 654
Paul II
641-653
Peter 654-666
Thomas II 667-669
John V 669-675
Constantine I
675-677
Theodore I 677-679
George I 679-686
Paul III
687-693
Callinicus I 693-705
Cyrus 705-711
John VI 712-715
Germanus
I 715-730
Anastasius 730-754
Constantine II 754-766
Nicetas
766-780
Paul IV 780-784
Tarasius 784-806
Nicephorus I
806-815
Theodotus I Cassiteras 815-821
Antony I 821-836
John VII
Grammaticus 836-843
Methodius I 843-847
Ignatius I 847-858,
867-877
Photius I the Great 858-867, 877-886
Stephanus I 886-893
Antony
II Kauleas 893-901
Nicholas I Mysticus 901-907, 912-925
Euthymius I
907-912
Stephanus II 925-928
Tryphon 928-931
Theophylactus
933-956
Polyeuctus 956-970
Basil I Skamandrenus 970-974
Antony III
Studites 974-980
Nicholas II Chrysoberges 984-996
Metropolitans of Kiev and of All Russia
Leo Michael 991-1004
Leontius 1004-1015
John I 1015-1037
Theopemptus
1037-1051
Hilarion 1051- ?
George 1072-1080
John II 1080-1096
John
III 1096-1098
Ephraim 1096-1098
Nicolas 1098-1108
Nicephorus I
1108-1124
Nicetas 1124-1127
Micahel II 1127-1147
Clement
1147-1154
Constantine 1154-1160
Theodore 1160-1164
John IV
1164-1167
Constantine II 1167-1185
Nicephorus II 1185-1201
Matthew
1201-1205
Cyril I 1205-1237
Joseph 1237-?
Cyril II 1240-1281
Metropolitans of Vladimir and of All Russia
Maximus 1283-1305
Peter 1305-1328
Metropolitans of Moscow and of All Russia
Theognostes 1328-1352
Alexis 1254-1378
Cyprian 1381-1407
Photius
1408-1431
Isodore 1436-1441
Jonah 1448-1461
Theodosius
1462-1467
Phillip I 1467-1472
Gerontius 1472-1491
Zosimus
1491-1496
Simon 1495-1510
Barlaam 1511-1521
Daniel 1522-1539
Joasaph
1539-1542
Macarius 1542-1563
Germanus 1564-1565
Phillip
1565-1568
Cyril II I 1568-1572
Anthony 1572-1581
Dionysius 1582-1587
Patriarchs of Moscow and of All Russia
Job 1589-1605
Hermongenes 1606-1612
Philaret 1619-1633
Joasaph I
1633-1641
Joseph 1642-1653
Nicon 1653-1667
Joasaph II
1667-1672
Pitrim 1672-1673
Joachim 1674-1690
Adrain
1690-1700
Stephan 1700-1721
Holy Synod 1721-1917
Nikon 18??
Macarij
(Michael Neveskij) 1884, Moscow
Evdokim (Meschersky) 1904 January 4, Moscow
North American Synod of the Holy Eastern Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church in North America, Inc.®
Aftimios Ofiesh 1917 May 13, New York, NY
Sophronius Bishara† 1928 May 26,
New York, NY
Governing Synod of the Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church in America
John More-Moreno‡ 1933 November 7, New York, NY
Robert C Adair 1958 June
22, New York, NY
Dismas Markle 1981 September 27, Maitland, FL
Joseph C. James
1984 June 24, Fern Park, FL
Victor Prentice, Metropolitan Archbishop, THEOCACNA at Wilmington, DE. May 5, 1999
Notes:
† According to a certified copy of the death certificate of Sophronius Bishara, whose last name is often misspelled "Beshara", he reposed on 9/19/1934, and not on 10/8/1940 or "1940" as reported by others including Denis Michel Garrison et al of Maryland (excommunicated, deposed, and anathemized), Bertil Persson of Sweden, and Khalil Samara of Antiochian Village based on headstone information "Bishop Sophronios Beshara 1888-1940". To the present, the official records of the "Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese [sic]" continue to misspell Bishara as Beshara and to spell Sophronios with a Greek spelling instead of the correct Russian transliteration of Sophronius.
In fact, the Antiochians do not know the date or place of birth of Bishara or when Bishara died. This is because they rely on writings by the pseudonym of "Fr. Bartimaeus", a name used by Terry Tyler, and whose writings are also attributed to Leslie C Sinclair who runs "Apostolic Orthodox Catholic Church", an acronym identical to and confusingly similar to "American Orthodox Catholic Church", the remnant which they also mistakenly claim to be. Tyler and Sinclair attempt to rewrite history by claiming Bishara was born "1888" in "Middle East", died on 5 October 1940 and was buried on 8 October 1940, within two days after obtaining the body and less than 24-hours after the death certificate time stamp, and with remains "reburied" in "August 1988" [sic]. (That the Antiochians became interested in the decedent's remains about 50 years after death makes no sense.)
The death certificate that exists for a decedent at that time is of a man named Sophronios [sic] Bishara: with no social security number; no month, day, or place of birth, other than "1888" "Syria"; who died of kidney disease with onset in 1925 about 15 years earlier; and for whom on the death certificate and on the funeral director's certificate is twice forged the signature of the decedent's "Brother" named "Chris Beshara" [sic] and which also misspells the first name as Sophronios and the last name twice as Beshara. It is remarkable that the alleged informant on the death certificate as a brother to the decedent would not know the month and day of birth of his own brother. The recorded hospital location of death has no such record. No obituary data in The New York Times, or another specified newspaper, exists to verify the date of death. Tyler and Sinclair also wrote dishonestly that on "10 [sic] February 1934" "Beshara [sic] ... co-consecrated Christopher Contogeorge ... along with Archbishop Aftimios and Albanian Metropolitan Theophan (Fan Noli)". That lie is contradicted in the fact that participation by Ofiesh was impossible because he was married ten months earlier on 29 April 1933 and subsequently performed no official episcopal acts for the remainder of his life until 1966 when he died.
Mariam Namey Ofiesh, the widow of Aftimios Ofiesh, stated more than once and wrote that Bishara died in 1934, about a year after Emmanuel Abohatab (5/3/1933). The published records of Saint Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral also state that Bishara died at a time between the deaths of Emmanuel in 1933 and Victor Abouassaly in 1934.
The correct death year for Bishara is also independently corroborated by other writers published before 1981 with the subsequent nonsense of Tyler et al 15 years later in March, 1996.
Here is the correct information from Bishara's death certificate: he died at the age of 28 from tuberculosis and pneumonia, making his birth year in 1906 in Syria; his given name was not Sophronios; he was in the United States since 1922 at the age of about 16; his mother's name was Zahia Okey; his father's name was Charles; his profession was "Clerk"; and he was buried on 9/22/1934, three days after dying. It is also in keeping with the tradition of the time that Bishara used Sophronius as a Church name which was not his birth name.
Therefore the misspelled name Sophronios on certificates with sections forged by a funeral director for the name of Beshara in 1940 cannot possibly be for the correct person who used Sophronius as a Church name and who died according to independent witnesses in 1934 and for whom a death certificate exists that clearly contains no forgery. The New York Times reported that Beshara [sic] was in attendance at the consecration of Christopher Contogeorge on 2/11/1934 in Bronx, NY.
An article without date, as published on the internet by Michael Kirkland, states "Sophronios celebrated the consecrating mass [sic]" and therefore is a rank forgery. (Note: Kirkland was convicted of Felony Forgery/Utterance for filing false insurance claims about church property that was not stolen; he subsequently served about 15-months until 12/01/98 in the Franklin County (Ohio) Correctional Facility (The Workhouse).)
Some have taken Bishara's presence there as evidence that he acted as consecrator of Contogeorge, but that is nonsense because in Orthodoxy only the senior bishop consecrates with junior bishops simply attesting corporately to the fact. Noli's consecration in 1923 predates Bishara's in 1928 by over four years. The argument from presence attests to the fact that many impostors, including Kirkland above who now claims a nexus with the Antiochains which they strenuously deny, attempt to connect Contogeorge with Bishara in order to supersede the dubious lines deriving from Contogeorge's recorded consecrator Fan Stylian Noli who provably acted without Orthodox mandate or authority.
Furthermore, the respective jurisdictions verified as forgeries these documents claimed by Kirkland: a letter exonerating Contogeorge of March 1, 1945 from Athenagaros and the "Synod of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America"; and a letter recognizing Zurawetzky as "valid and canonical" of 1973 from Nikolaos VI of the Greek Orthodox Church in Alexandria, Egypt.
A published obituary for Contogeorge who died on August 30, 1950 states that in 1936, over two years after his consecration, Contogeorge, an archbishop from Lowell, MA, arrived in Bronx, NY to commence duties there. In fact, the last known consecration by Bishara was that of More-Moreno on 11/7/1933 in New York City.
‡ The literature contains many errors concerning More-Moreno. He was not later consecrated by John Thomas Beckles on 11/20/1943; he did not consecrate Perry Nikolaus Cedarholm on 12/6/1949 in New York City; and he did not consecrate Harold FA Jarvis on 10/30/1949 in Rockville Center, NY. In fact, the only known consecration by More-Moreno was that of Robert C Adair (John) and Robert P Adair (Gregory) on 6/22/1958 in New York City.