USA: The meeting Putin – Archbishop of the Orthodox Church in Alaska was not legitimate!
The Orthodox Archbishop of Alaska created a scandal up to the summit of the Orthodox Church of America for meeting with President Putin
By Willy Fautré, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers (Brussels)
HRWF (29.08.2025) – On the occasion of his meeting with President Trump in Alaska at mid-August, President Putin visited the Orthodox Archbishop of Sitka and Alaska, Reverend Alexei, who was born in 1965 in Dover, Delaware (USA).
On 25 January 2020, Bishop Alexis (secular name John Trader) was consecrated to the episcopacy of the Orthodox Church in America. On 15 March 2022, he was canonically elected as Bishop of Sitka and Alaska by Metropolitan Tikhon of All America and Canada. On 19 March 2025, the Holy Synod of Bishops unanimously decided to elevate him to the dignity of archbishop and about a week later, he was enthroned at Saint Innocent Cathedral, Anchorage (Alaska).
How legitimate was this meeting? What is the history of the Orthodox Church in America? How independent is the Orthodox Church in Alaska from the Russian Orthodox Church? What is the nature of their relations?
From the Russian Orthodox Church to the Orthodox Church in America
During the second half of the 18th century Russian missionaries began to move across Siberia towards the Pacific Ocean. In 1794, ten monks from the Wallam Monastery in Russian Finland and two other nearby monasteries arrived on the island of Kodiak in Alaska. That is how the Russian Orthodox Church settled in North America. These first Orthodox missionaries were pleasantly surprised to find nearly all of the Native Americans quite eager to accept the Orthodox Faith. In fact, many of them had already been baptized by laymen working for the Russian American fur-trading Company.
Two monks remained famous in the history of the Orthodox Christianization. One of them, Hieromonk Juvenal, in 1795 sealed his testimony about Christ with a martyr’s death. The other is the elder Herman (+1837), now famous in both the American and Russian Churches, successfully continued his missionary work in America for more than forty years.
By 1808, the capital was moved to Novoarkhangelsk (Sitka), where in 1848 the Cathedral of St. Michael was built, the seat of the Bishop of Kamchatka, the Kurile and Aleutian Islands, and Alaska — a vast expanse stretching over 2,000 miles.
In 1867, Russia sold Alaska to the United States.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Orthodox flock in America was fed by Archbishop Tikhon, who was to become later Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia (+1925).
On 10 April 1970, the Russian Orthodox Church granted autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in America. Its canonical territory is the United States; the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Church in America also extends to some parishes in Canada, Mexico and South America. Since then, all the Primate of the Orthodox Church in America have been American citizens but the Russian Orthodox Church mentions them with their bios on its own website.
In 2002-2008, the Primate of the Orthodox Church in America was Metropolitan Herman (Svaiko), in 2008-2012 it was Metropolitan Jonah (Puffhausen).
Since 1 July 2009, the Primate of the Church bears the title of “Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada.”
On 13 November 2012, the XVII All-American Council elected His Eminence Tikhon, Archbishop of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania, as the sixth Primate of the Orthodox Church in America.
Nowadays, rough estimates range from around 1,400 to 3,800 Russian-speaking residents in Alaska, depending on definitions and sources.
About the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA)
How independent from the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) is the Orthodox Church in America (OCA)? What is the nature of the remaining links between both entities? These are important questions. It is not always clear but the Tomos of autocephaly (1970) and practice say
- the OCA isfully self-governing: it elects its own primate (the Metropolitan of All America and Canada), consecrates bishops, and manages all its own internal affairs without needing ROC approval;
- it is canonically equal to other Orthodox Churches (though not all recognize its autocephaly);
- the OCA has“absolute self-governance” and is no longer under ROC jurisdiction.
While there is no subordination in a legal or administrative sense, there are spiritual, historical, and practical connections:
- Eucharistic Communion: The OCA and the ROC remain in full communion. Their clergy can serve and their faithful can receive sacraments in each other’s churches.
- Historical Honor: The OCA commemorates the Patriarch of Moscow liturgically, recognizing him as the head of the “Mother Church” that granted autocephaly, a gesture of gratitude, not of subordination.
- Cooperation: Both churches collaborate in theological education, missionary work and cultural exchange, but only voluntarily.
- Mutual Recognition: The OCA recognizes Moscow as the source of its apostolic succession and independence. Moscow, in turn, formally recognizes the OCA as autocephalous (The Patriarchate of Constantinople and many other churches do not).
After 1970, the ROC retained no canonical authority over the OCA. Unlike a church with autonomy (which still answers to a “mother church” in some areas, like bishop confirmations or external relations), the OCA’s autocephaly means Moscow has no right of appeal or oversight.
Autocephaly is like a “spiritual adulthood.” The new church governs itself fully but stays part of the one Orthodox family with mutual respect and recognition.
So the “links” are honorary and spiritual rather than juridical or administrative.
Archbishop Alexei of Sitka and Alaska and Russia’s war on Ukraine
Archbishop Alexei of Sitka and Alaska (OCA) has never dissociated himself from Patriarch Kirill in his support for President Putin’s war on Ukraine and when calling it a “holy war.” He has always turned a blind eye to the bombing of places of worship of all faiths in Ukraine. He has never condemned the systematic shelling of civilian targets making so many victims since 24 February 2022. He has always kept silent about the deportation of Ukrainian children from the occupied territories and their russification.
The only type of declaration he made was “With the leaders coming to Alaska, what is the one thing that the church can offer? That is prayers for peace.” A very safe and weak position, unlike the one of the Primate and the Holy Synod of his own church. Not surprising that Putin chose him instead of his superiors.
After Putin’s departure, Archbishop Alexei apologized for not asking him to put an end to the war and for the real scandal that he caused in the church by meeting the President of Russia without any authorization from his hierarchy but he neither expressed any regret for the meeting itself nor disavowed it. On his side, Metropolitan Tikhon of the Orthodox Church in America issued a severe statement stating:
“The encounter to which His Eminence Archbishop Alexei refers in his statement of apology was undertaken on his own initiative and was not authorized by the Holy Synod. The canonical tradition insists that a bishop do nothing without the knowledge of the metropolitan; this meeting was arranged without my knowledge. His Eminence has taken responsibility for his actions, and I wish to affirm that they do not represent the official position of the Orthodox Church in America with respect to external relations. From the very beginning, the Orthodox Church in America has been among the first Orthodox Churches to clearly and repeatedly condemn the aggression against Ukraine, which has caused the loss of countless lives, untold suffering, and the displacement of millions. We have consistently raised our voices against violence, prayed for peace in our liturgical services, and provided support for those displaced by the war…” (Full statement HERE)
The controversial meeting Putin – Archbishop Alexei was not only illegitimate, it was a unique opportunity for Putin to send a subliminal message to the media and the international community that Alaska had been a Russian czarist territory and as he always says “Where the Russians set foot, it is Russian territory.”
Photo:Enthronement of Archbishop Alexei in Anchorage by Metropolitan Tikhon (Credit: Orthodox Church in America)
