Jerusalem Patriarchate in America
Encyclopedia
The Jerusalem Patriarchate in America comprised the Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...

 churches under the omophorion
Omophorion
In the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic liturgical tradition, the omophor is the distinguishing vestment of a bishop and the symbol of his spiritual and ecclesiastical authority...

 (authority) of Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem
Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem
Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem is the current Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem...

, represented in the Americas by Archbishop Damaskinos of Jaffa
Archbishop Damaskinos of Jaffa
Archbishop Anastasios Damaskinos of Jaffa and Arimathea is a senior bishop of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem and a current member of the Holy Synod of Jerusalem.He was born in 1952 in Agia, Larissa...

.

The churches belonging to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem in North and South America were technically referred to as belonging to the Epitropia of the Holy Sepulcher in America since the Church of Jerusalem does not have any local resident diocese but is essentially a representational or diplomatic Church.

The Jerusalem Patriarchate has a long history in the United States dating back to the 1920s but became more established with the appointment of Archbishop Damaskinos of Jaffa
Archbishop Damaskinos of Jaffa
Archbishop Anastasios Damaskinos of Jaffa and Arimathea is a senior bishop of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem and a current member of the Holy Synod of Jerusalem.He was born in 1952 in Agia, Larissa...

 as Epitropos in 2002. Under Archbishop Damaskinos' leadership there was significant development over the following years.

On August 5, 2008, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, headquartered in New York City, is an eparchy of the Church of Constantinople. Its current primate is Archbishop Demetrios of America.-About the Archdiocese:...

 issued an announcement that the Patriarchates of Constantinople and Jerusalem had agreed on the transfer of the Jerusalem parishes in America to a "Vicariate for Palestinian/Jordanian Communities in the USA" within the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The vicar would operate under the authority of the primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.http://www.goarch.org/news/2008-08-05-decisiononcommunities
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