On Sunday, October 22, 2017, the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) awarded our Alumnus, Protopresbyter Leonid Kishkovsky, the miter, in recognition of his many years of service to the Church of Our Lady of Kazan, Sea Cliff, NY, and to the OCA. The honor was granted to Fr. Leonid during the Divine Liturgy, which was concelebrated by His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, primate of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), and His Eminence, the Most Reverend Michael, archbishop of New York, and of New York and New Jersey. Archbishop Michael placed the miter on Father Leonid during the service, on behalf of the Holy Synod. The day also marked the parish’s 75th Anniversary, so additionally, a Synodal Gramota was presented to Fr. Leonid, the Parish Council, and the faithful of Church of Our Lady of Kazan at the conclusion of the Liturgy.
Father Leonid was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1943. His parents fled from Warsaw with him in 1944, just before the Polish Warsaw uprising, and they became war refugees in Germany. They immigrated to the United States as Displaced Persons and settled in Los Angeles, California, becoming members of the Holy Virgin Mary parish.
After completing undergraduate studies in history and political science at the University of Southern California, Fr. Leonid studied at St. Vladimir’s Seminary. He and his wife, Alexandra (Mimi) Koulomzine, met at a student retreat at the seminary and married in 1969. Ordained as a priest in November 1969, Fr. Leonid was assigned to San Francisco’s Holy Trinity Cathedral to build an English-language community in the Cathedral’s St. Innocent Chapel. He and Mimi were actively engaged in Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) campus work with college students in the San Francisco area.
In 1974 Fr. Leonid was called to serve the Church of Our Lady of Kazan in Sea Cliff, and at the same time to work in the Chancery of the OCA in Syosset. During his long service at the Chancery Fr. Leonid has represented the OCA in Orthodox, ecumenical, and inter-religious settings. He has been President of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA; Moderator of Religions for Peace (international) and Religions for Peace USA; Moderator of Christian Churches Together in the USA; a member of the World Council of Churches governing bodies; and a member of the Board of Directors of International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC). He continues currently as Director of External Affairs and Interchurch Relations for the OCA.
Axios! And, Many Years!
