There are several large church jurisdictions in America today, and over a thousand Orthodox parishes. But at one time, there was only one Orthodox Church here—the Russian Orthodox Church, or, as it was called, the Russian Orthodox Greek-Catholic Church.
The film tells the story of Orthodoxy in America today, revealing little-known facts which connect Russia and America, about the lives and spiritual legacy of eminent Orthodox ascetics revered on the American continent, but almost unknown in Russia.
Featured in the film are the head of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America of the Constantinople Patriarchate, His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of North America; the primate of the Antiochian Orthodox Church in America, His Eminence Metropolitan Philip; the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York; His Eminence Archbishop Justinian of Naro-Fominsk [former] Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in the USA; the Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, His Eminence Metropolitan Tikhon of All America and Canada; Cardinal Timothy Michael Dolan of New York of the Roman Catholic Church; Hieromonk Alexander (Frizzell) Prior of Holy Cross Monastery in Wayne, WV; Fr John Behr, Dean of St Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary; Chancellor of St Vladimir’s Seminary, Protopriest Chad Hatfield; US Congressman Christopher Smith; Natalia Narochnitskaya, President of Moscow’s Historical Perspective Foundation; George Sheremetieff, administrator of the Congress of Russian Americans; Publishing Director at St Vladimir’s Seminary Theodore C Bazil; Professor Paul Meyendorff of St Vladimir’s Seminary; and former residents of St John of Shanghai Orphanage, Zoya Migal, Tamara Zakharik and George Merdyanin.
The author of the film is Metropolitan Ilarion (Alfeev), director: Valery Shekhovtsov, narrated by Sergei Vostretsov.
The film was funded by the St Gregory of the Theologian Foundation’s “Third Rome Studio” production center, with aid from the Federal Press and Mass Communications Agency.
