Jonah (Paffhausen)

His Beatitude  Jonah
Archbishop of Washington
Enthroned	December 28, 2008
Predecessor	Metropolitan Herman (Swaiko)
Successor	Incumbent
Orders
Ordination	1994
Consecration	November 1, 2008
Personal details
Birth name	James Paffhausen
Born	(1959-10-20) 20 October 1959 Chicago, Illinois
Nationality	American
Denomination	Eastern Orthodox
Residence	Washington, D.C., USA
Parents	James and Louise Paffhausen
Alma mater	Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary

Jonah (Paffhausen), Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada, is the primate of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). He was elected on November 12, 2008, and installed to his see on December 28, 2008, in Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Jonah is also the first convert to the Orthodox faith to be elected as the OCA's primate.

Life

James Paffhausen was born in 1959 in Chicago, Illinois, to James and Louise Paffhausen. He was baptized into the Episcopal Church at St. Chrysostom's Episcopal Church. His family later moved to La Jolla, California, near San Diego. In 1978, he was received into the Orthodox Church at Our Lady of Kazan Church (Moscow Patriarchate) while studying at the University of California, San Diego. James later transferred to UC Santa Cruz and helped to establish an Orthodox Christian Fellowship chapter there.

After graduation from UCSC, James went on to study at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, graduating in 1985 with an M.Div. and again in 1988 with an M.Th. in Dogmatic Theology. In 1989, he began doctoral studies at Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, but interrupted his studies to spend a year in Russia, working for Russkiy Palomnik in the publishing arm of the Moscow Patriarchate. During his time in Russia, he was introduced to Russian spirituality and its particular form of monastic life.

He subsequently joined Valaam Monastery as a novice, coming under the spiritual direction of Archimandrite Pankratiy (Zherdev), the monastery's abbot, now a titular bishop of Troitsk. While in Russia, James was taken to see Fr. Pankratiy's own spiritual father, Elder Kyrill of Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra to ask for advice in discerning his vocation. Elder Kyrill blessed James to become a hieromonk.

In 1994, James was ordained to the diaconate and priesthood, and then in the following year, he was tonsured a monastic at St Tikhon's Monastery, South Canaan, Pennsylvania, receiving the name Jonah after St. Jonah of Moscow.

Hieromonk Jonah returned to his home state of California, serving a number of mission parishes there and later given the obedience to establish a monastery. In 1996, St. John of San Francisco Monastery was founded in Point Reyes, California. During his tenure as abbot, Fr. Jonah's monastic community grew to more than fifteen members, and the monastery soon had to move to larger facilities in Manton. In this period, he also worked to establish Californian missions in Merced, Sonora, Chico, Eureka, Redding, and Susanville, and in Kona, Hawaii.

Episcopal elevation

In 2008, Fr. Jonah was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and sent from the monastery to take on the duties of being an auxiliary bishop for the Orthodox Church in America's Diocese of the South. In September of that year, he was officially elected to that position, and then on November 1 consecrated in Dallas as Bishop of Fort Worth, led by Archbishop Dmitri (Royster), then locum tenens of the OCA's Metropolitan See. Eleven days later, on November 12, Bishop Jonah was elected as Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church in America.

Jonah's election as Metropolitan was regarded by observers as an extraordinary occurrence in the history of the OCA, as he was the newest bishop in the OCA at the time. Metropolitan Herman (Swaiko) had retired three months prior to the OCA's Fifteenth All-American Council, in connection with the financial scandal. The vacancy meant that a new Metropolitan would have to be elected at the Council. On the night before the election, the Synod asked Jonah to address questions from the delegates regarding the recent financial scandal in the OCA. Jonah was only an auxiliary bishop at the time, and that for only ten days, but he was the only bishop at the time who was seen as untainted by the scandal.

In his largely-improvised address, Jonah heavily criticized how he had seen authority exercised by bishops and the OCA administration in the past. He stated that hierarchical authority in the Orthodox Church should be about responsibility, accountability, and spiritual fatherhood, rather than "imperial aristocracy". He admitted that there had been a catastrophic leadership failure in the OCA, but told the assembly that clinging to bitterness over the situation would only do further harm, and that church members had to learn to forgive in order to heal. The following morning, Jonah received the most votes from the council delegates in two rounds of voting, and was subsequently elected by the Holy Synod to be the new Metropolitan.

Metropolitan Jonah was formally installed to his see of Washington and New York at St. Nicholas Cathedral, Washington, D.C., on December 28, 2008. Several months later, the Synod voted to restore a previous arrangement of having Washington as the principal city of the Metropolitan's diocese, and establishing New York as a separate diocese. Jonah served as the locum tenens of New York until the diocese enthroned its own bishop in 2010.

In accordance with Orthodox canon law and the OCA Statute, which stipulate that a diocesan bishop must live within the geographic boundaries of his diocese, Jonah maintains his residence and office in Washington, D.C., while regularly working at the OCA headquarters in Syosset, New York.

Accomplishments

In November 2009, Jonah signed an ecumenical statement known as the Manhattan Declaration calling on evangelicals, Catholics and Orthodox not to comply with rules and laws permitting abortion, same-sex marriage and other matters that go against their religious consciences.

Regarding ecumenical relations with non-Orthodox jurisdictions and Christian denominations, Jonah befriended bishops of the Anglican Church of North America [ACNA] throughout 2009 and 2010. Citing irreconcilable differences with The Episcopal Church [TEC, USA] and severing ecumenical discussions with TEC, Jonah went on record as siding with ACNA traditionalists. Furthermore, he has expressed a desire to welcome ACNA members into the OCA someday. Jonah addressed the ACNA assembly in 2009. Jonah received baptism as an infant in a Chicago parish of TEC in 1959, and continued attending a parish of TEC after his family relocated to La Jolla, California. It was not until age 18 that Jonah began preparation for Chrismation in a San Diego Orthodox parish of the Moscow Patriarchate.

From 25 February to 24 April 2011 Metropolitan Jonah took a retreat for personal and spiritual renewal with the blessing of the OCA Holy Synod. His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel of Detroit assisted in temporary administration of the OCA during His Beatitude's retreat.

In 2011 and extending into 2012, Jonah presided at or participated in several events of historical significance in the Orthodox Church. These included a February 2011 concelebration with Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk and Archbishop Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Naro-Fominsk in St. Nicholas Cathedral in New York City. In that same month, Jonah also met Metropolitan Christopher of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, as well as Patriarch Irinej of Serbia.

In May and December 2011, Jonah concelebrated with Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral) of ROCOR. These were the first concelebrations between hierarchs of the OCA and ROCOR. The May liturgy was the first concelebration between the Primate and First Hierarch of the respective churches, and the December liturgy involved many more bishops from both Synods.

In August 2011, Jonah was to have journeyed to Prague to visit the Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, but cancelled his portion of the trip in order to tend to the dying Archbishop Dmitri (Royster) of Dallas. Bishop Benjamin (Peterson), who was to have accompanied Jonah, traveled to Prague in his stead.

Also in August 2011, Jonah's first book was published by St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. Titled Reflections on a Spiritual Journey, the book is a collection of several of Jonah's writings, speeches, and interviews, both from his time as abbot and mission priest as well as after his election as Metropolitan.

On January 1, 2012, Jonah presided at the Divine Liturgy at a ROCOR parish, St. John the Baptist in Washington, DC, with the blessing of Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral). This was the first time an OCA bishop had led Divine Liturgy at a ROCOR parish, in the absence of any ROCOR bishops. Several OCA and ROCOR priests concelebrated on this historic occasion.

Bibliography

• Reflections on a Spiritual Journey (Orthodox Profiles V. 1), SVS Press, 2011.

Episcopal succession

Preceded by Herman (Swaiko)

Primate of the Orthodox Church in America 2008 – present

Succeeded by Incumbent

Sources

• "Archimandrite Jonah (Paffhausen) consecrated Bishop of Fort Worth and Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of the South", OCA News & Events
• "Bishop Jonah of Fort Worth Elected Metropolitan of All America and Canada"
• Derived with permission from Jonah_(Paffhausen)_of_Washington_and_New_York at OrthodoxWiki.