A message from +Gregori:
Sadly, it is a known fact that many bishops of Independent Catholic jurisdictions, including many that claim to be Orthodox have ordained men to the priesthood and have even consecrated men to the episcopacy who have NEVER received any sort of seminary training or education, which has led to many problems within the Body of Christ. The American Orthodox Church/North American Orthodox Church, which includes the Missionary Orthodox Catholic Diocese of New York State, will accept any clergy from other jurisdictions unless they can provide proof of such seminary training. If they cannot, then they will be required to enroll in any of the training programs sanctioned by the A.O.C/N.A.O.C. Our aim is to train servants today for service tomorrow for the life that they have been called to follow as future deacons, priests, monks and nuns.
Here at St. John Maximovitch Theological Institute, we do not pressure our students by placing them under unnecessary time constraints. Each student is allowed to take whatever time they need to complete a course of study.
It must be stressed that since we are an Orthodox Catholic jurisdiction, which means that we adhere to all of the rules, canons, traditions (both oral and written), and teachings of the One, Holy, Orthodox, Catholic and Apostolic Church, under no circumstances will we ordain or consecrate openly and active homosexual individuals to the priesthood or to the episcopacy. Therefore, if you are an openly and active homosexual individual, please do not waste your time or ours by seeking admission to this institute. We will admit and ordain those with homosexual tendencies provided they are not active and are willing to take and live by the vow celibacy. Once such a candidate has been ordained, any violation, on their part, of the vow of celibacy will be just cause for and lead to that individual being stripped of all priestly duties (also known as defrockment) and excommunication from this Church.
In keeping with Orthodox Catholic tradition, we do not and will not ordain women to the priesthood, however, we do ordain women to the order of deaconess, but it is to be understood that their role is not the same as male deacons. We also allow for married clergy, both priests and bishops, however, they MUST marry prior to being ordained to the deaconate. If a married priest becomes widowed, he may, with the written permission of his hierarch, remarry.
In the true spirit of Christian love and fraternity, we extend a heart-felt invitation to the hierarchs of other jurisdictions, including those that are Autonomous, to feel free to have their candidates for orders, to enroll in the St. John Maximovitch Theological Institute, St. Michael’s Theological Seminary or the Western Orthodox Theological Institute for training. For those who do so, we will notify their bishop(s) as to their progress, and upon satisfactory completion of a required course of study, we shall notify their Episcopal superior(s) that the candidate is ready for ordination.
Please let it be fully understood that we are NOT an accredited institute of higher learning as understood by Civil Law, but as understood by Church Canon Law, we are a legitimate training institute. Therefore, upon completion of various courses, we issue Certificates of Education in lieu of Civilly recognized Diplomas.
