Happy Birthday, Orest.
I am usually up on Ukrainian Orthodox history but have never heard of this group.
Being up on Ukrainian Orthodoxy would do nothing to have helped you hear of this group - or any of several others of the same ilk. Rather, you'd want to be up-to-date on
episcopi vagante and the
ecclesia vagante that they create, staff, and abandon at the drop of a mitre, crown, or whatever liturgical headgear is in vogue at the moment.
Actually, it's much more diverse than that. They've managed to gather together, into one episcopal genealogy some of the most frequently recurring names to be found in the lines of succession claimed by "independent", "non-canonical" and
vagante Orthodox and Catholic bodies. The list is awing - and I'm not sure that I captured the lot of them, giving the poor quality of the image:
Theophan Noli (Albanian Orthodox)
Oftimios Ofiesh (Syrian/Antiochian Orthodox)
Christopher Contogeorge (Greek Orthodox)
Antoine Aneed (Melkite Catholic)
Joachim Souris (Greek Orthodox)
Nicholas Bohatyretz (Ukrainian Orthodox)
Joseph Klimovich (Russian Orthodox)
Nicholas Kedroffsky (Russian Orthodox)
Arsenios Saltas (Alexandrian Greek Orthodox)
Peter Zurawetsky (Russian Orthodox)
Konstantin Jaroshevich (I forget which omophor he claimed) Sophronios Beshara (Syrian/Antiochian Orthodox)
John Kedroffsky (Russian Orthodox)
Note that the Church I list next to each would be that which they claimed - not necessarily that the Church would claim them.
Most folks would, rightfully, be reluctant to give credence to the episcopal status of most anyone on that list, with the exception of Fan Noli and Sophronios Beshara. The rest include a couple of "Living Church" hierarchs, renegades, and the like of Christopher Contogeorge who held onto his claim to be considered a legitimate bishop of the GOA by engaging in a lawsuit against the GOA that ended in a consent decree, as much (on the part of the GOA) to avoid further scandal as anything.
it seems that there are several Ukrainian "orthodox" groups that are not canonical
The Ukrainians (and those looking to call themselves Ukrainians) have spawned a significant number of ecclesia that include both a few that are 'merely' non-canonical (out of the mainstream, but not necessarily off the reservation) to true, outright
vagante. A few years back there was a thread here that discussed a number of these groups - particularly the latter ones - I'll see if I can find it.
Reading it is both amusing and sad: amusing to see the contortions through which people go to convince themselves and others that their two cathedra garage is Fourth Rome, the next Phanar or Vatican; sad to think that folks are taken in by their role-playing.
Many years,
Neil
