His Beatitude Jonah |
|
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Archbishop of Washington | |
Installed | December 28, 2008 |
Predecessor | Metropolitan Herman (Swaiko) |
Successor | Metropolitan Tikhon (Mollard) |
Orders | |
Ordination | 1994 |
Consecration | November 1, 2008 by Dmitri (Royster), Benjamin (Peterson), Tikhon (Mollard), and Alejo (Pacheco y Vera) |
Personal details | |
Birth name | James Paffhausen |
Born |
Chicago, Illinois |
October 20, 1959
Nationality | American |
Denomination | Eastern Orthodox |
Residence | Washington, D.C., USA |
Parents | James and Louise Paffhausen |
Alma mater | Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary |
Metropolitan Jonah (born James Paffhausen, Jr.; October 20, 1959) is a retired American Orthodox bishop who served as the primate of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) with the title The Most Blessed Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada from his election on November 12, 2008, until his resignation on July 7, 2012. Metropolitan Jonah was the first convert to the Orthodox faith to have been elected as the primate of the OCA.
On June 15, 2015, Metropolitan Jonah was released from the Orthodox Church in America in order for him to be accepted as a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.
James Paffhausen was born in Chicago, Illinois, to James and Louise Paffhausen. He was baptized in the Episcopal Church at St. Chrysostom's Episcopal Church. He continued attending a parish of the Episcopal Church after his family relocated to La Jolla, California. It was not until age 18 that he began preparation for chrismation in a San Diego Orthodox parish of the Moscow Patriarchate. 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. He later transferred to UC Santa Cruz and helped to establish an Orthodox Christian Fellowship chapter there.
After graduation from UCSC, Paffhausen 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.