Wearing a black gown and a black-veiled mitre, there arrived in
Manhattan last autumn His Grace the Most Reverend Theodosios
Abourjaily, Archbishop of Tyre & Sidon, Metropolitan of Judadeh and
personal delegate of Alexander III, Patriarch of Antioch in the Syrian
branch of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Syrian Antiochian Orthodox
Church of North America, with 60,0000 members, had been without a head
since 1934, when Archbishop Victor and his two immediate subordinates
died. To select a successor, Archbishop Theodosios was dispatched to the
U. S. by the Patriarch to supervise an election in which all male
Syrians over 20 might take part. The voting took place last November.
Apparent winner was a onetime professor at the American College in
Beirut named Rev. Antony Bashir, who had meanwhile served as
provisional Patriarchal representative.In St. George's Syrian Orthodox Church at Toledo, Ohio last week bells
pealed, peppery incense swirled, the congregation shouted “Oxiose,
Oxiose!” [“Son of the Church!”], and Orthodox U. S. Syrians had a new
spiritual leader. But the man who was thus consecrated Archbishop of
the Syrian Church of North America was not Professor Bashir. He was the
priest of St. George's, a heavy-faced, black-bearded Archimandrite
named Samuel David.Between election and consecration had occurred several slips whose
full import was understood only by U. S. Syrians. Samuel David, 43, emigrated
from Syria to Toledo 15 years ago. He smokes costly Turkish cigarets, drives a big
Packard, and when the votes were counted in Manhattan after last autumn's stormy
election, Samuel David was at hand. When Samuel David failed to win the contest,
he promptly charged that it had been uncanonically conducted. Archbishop
Theodosios offered to compromise by elevating both Bashir and David, then
withdrew that offer. Feeling he had been double-crossed, Samuel David marshaled
Syrian followers about him. By last week he was ready to declare himself Syrian
Archbishop of North America.Though he could find no high Syrian prelates willing to dabble with him
in muddied church waters, Archimandrite David lined up three
sympathetic Russian bishops whose spiritual powers were, after all, as
efficacious as those of any other Orthodox churchmen. In St. George's
Church last week these, with the aid of four Orthodox priests,
consecrated Samuel David. With his gilt-&-scarlet crown firmly on
his swart head, Archbishop David thereupon waited for the Patriarch of
Antioch to grant him jurisdiction, to which he felt canonically
entitled. Failing that, a schism was forecast among confused U. S. Syrians.
