Short history
The canonical origins of the Romanian Orthodox Church in the Americas came about at a Church Congress, composed of clergy and lay representatives of already existing Romanian Orthodox parishes in the United States and Canada, held in Detroit, Michigan on 25 April 1929 (the “1929 Congress”). At that 1929 Congress it was decided to form a Missionary Episcopate under the canonical jurisdiction of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The Congress communicated its decision in a petition addressed to the Patriarchate and signed by all of the representatives of the Parishes. The National Church Congress of the Romanian Orthodox Patriarchate approved the petition of the 1929 Congress in its session of November 1929. As a result of these decisions, His Beatitude Patriarch Miron granted canonical authority to this newly formed Romanian Orthodox Missionary Episcopate by Patriarchal Decree No. 10219 dated 1 November 1930 (the “1930 Decree”). He invested the interim administrative commission that had been formed at the 1929 Congress with full power to organize, guide, and conduct the affairs of the Episcopate until the election and installation of a bishop.
The Church Congress held in Cleveland, Ohio on 30 October 1932 (the “1932 Congress”) adopted statutes (“1932 Statutes”) for the regulation of Church life in order to better organize both the Episcopate and the parishes according to Orthodox canonical practice. The 1932 Statutes were ratified by the Holy Synod in its session of 15 June 1933. Subsequent revisions to the 1932 Statutes were made, the first and most important being at the Congress of July 1935 held under the presidency of Bishop Policarp.
Of similar importance are the decisions of the Holy Synod with regard to the autonomy of the Eparchy. The first of these was the decision of the Permanent Synod on 12 July 1950. The second was the Decree of the Plenary Session of the Holy Synod of 12 December 1974.
The founding act of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada is the decision of the Archdiocesan Congress held in Hamilton, Ontario, on July 1-3, 2016 to establish a Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada. This decision has been approved by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church at its session of October 28-29, 2016.
It is in the spirit of these decisions and documents that the present Statutes for the Organization of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada are adopted.