Not far from where I live there is a small Orthodox church built in what I like to call "Lionel train set architecture" that I drive past fairly frequently. It has always puzzled me, because on the front wall of the church the sign reads "St. George Orthodox Catholic Church".

Yet having visited the website for this church, I find no explanation for this designation. Indeed, the website simply calls the church "St. George Orthodox Church", ommitting the word "Catholic" altogether, describing itself as "Pan-Orthodox".

Anyone have any idea what that's all about? Here's a link to the church's website:

St. George Orthodox Church

If you zoom on either of the two exterior images of the church shown on the website's home page, you'll see the sign I'm talking about.

James,

St George's is a parish of the OCA (Orthodox Church in America). You can read a brief history at its page on the OCA website. As you can see from the description of its congregation, it's a very diverse group of faithful. Although the OCA's origins were Russian and Rusyn, having been formed at a time when the situation in Russia made it virtually impossible to maintain communion with the Russian Patriarchate, many of the more recently erected OCA parishes (and not a few of the older ones) are indeed now pan-Orthodox. St George's fits that mold, in that it's history isn't tied to any one ethnicity.

The styling 'Orthodox Catholic' was pretty common in a lot of Orthodox jurisdictions early in the 20th century. That was particularly true of, but not limited to, parishes of: the Russian Metropolia (a portion of which would evolve to become the OCA); what would eventually become the American Carpatho-Russian Diocese; and parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA. All of those were heavily populated by faithful who left communion with Rome over issues that arose from conflict with Latin hierarchs particularly in the areas of trusteeship and priestly celibacy. However, the usage was not unknown among other of the Orthodox Churches as well.

St George's only dates back to 1962, about 2 decades after the last of the schisms that rocked the Eastern Catholic communities. The usage was much less common by then, but not unknown. In short, it's a genuine Orthodox temple - not a vagante (although that kind of mized terminology usage is very common in that genre).

Many years,

Neil

Every Orthodox Church I've ever seen professes that they are "The One True Catholic and Apostolic Church"

The tragedy lies in us all not being able to implement the Litany
"For peace in the whole world, for the stability of The Holy Churches of God and for the union of all = let us pray to the Lord."

I'd like to someday add this as a separate topic - why Catholicism (Eastern, Western, Latin, Byzantine, Orthodox) cannot come together as one -