Warren Commission (09 of 26): Hearings Vol. IX (of 15) — John Shaqi
Warren Commission (09 of 26): Hearings Vol. IX (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (09 of 26): Hearings Vol. IX (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
You see, Father Royster at that time--that's the main point--Father
Royster doesn't mean anything to you or to me, but to lots of Russians
it means everything. You see, Father Royster at that time belonged to
the Ukraine branch of the church. You see, he couldn't get ordained,
but then he tried to, and I tried to help him to be ordained by
Metropolitan and Anastasia, but he couldn't fulfill the requirements so
he tried to get in through Metropolitan Leonty. He couldn't quite get
in because of their requirements, but they suggested that he will be
ordained by the Russian Ukranian Church, of which Father Joseph Bogdan,
B-o-g-d-a-n [spelling] had the jurisdiction of the Ukranian branch of
Metropolitan Leonty's branch of the Russian Church in this country, and
so, you see, and that was--now, we have to go back through the basic
facts that Russians and Ukranians have never gotten along together, and
in fact, Ukranians were separative--they wanted to separate from the
rest of the Russians and he will have their church to become part of
their parish. That was just going against the grain of every Russian.
Now, all those things tended to create dissatisfaction and fights, I
mean verbal fights, of course--no physical violence of any kind, but
verbal fights, and Father Royster decided to pull out and he asked
me if I would help him, and I said, "Sure, as long as it is a Greek
Orthodox Church," and that's how it happened.
You see, some of the statements--like he said, "In September of 1958
the parish was transferred from the jurisdiction of Bishop Bogdan to
that of Metropolitan Leonty, the Russian Metropolia."
Well, he is Russian Metropolia, but it isn't finished--in this country.
Mr. JENNER. The words "in this country" should be added there?
Mr. RAIGORODSKY. Yes; in the United States. I mean, those are minor,
but substantially, it is correct--what he said.
Mr. JENNER. With those explanations, Miss Oliver, will you please copy
the historical statement into the record?
The REPORTER. Yes, sir.
(The instrument referred to is set forth on pp. 8 and 9 of this volume.)
Mr. JENNER. These differences of opinion, historical, religious, and
otherwise, and arguments rather than facts, tend to affect also the
views of an individual who is a member of St. Nicholas Church with
respect to individuals who regularly attended St. Seraphim's?
Mr. RAIGORODSKY. Well, it's a peculiar thing that the people, as I
understand it, who helped Mrs. Oswald, were people from St. Nicholas
Church.
Mr. JENNER. Largely?
Mr. RAIGORODSKY. So--I don't know how that came about--perhaps she is
Russian. I can understand so much--she is a Russian and St. Nicholas is
Russian and St. Seraphim is Eastern Orthodox.
Mr. JENNER. Did I understand you correctly, sir, that the parishioners,
by and large, of St. Nicholas are exclusively anti-Communists?
Mr. RAIGORODSKY. There's no question about it.
Mr. JENNER. Because of the history, there's no question about
it--largely?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account