On Sunday(2-23-14), the Orthodox Dioceses of Sitka and Alaska installed David Mahaffey as its 16th Bishop. Dressed in golden ceremonial robes, Mahaffey paraded from the Russian Bishop’s house to St. Michael’s Cathedral, alongside other Orthodox bishops and clergy. Over a century has passed since America’s first Orthodox Bishop, St. Innocent, walked the same route for his installation ceremony.
When the procession reached St. Michael’s Cathedral, Native elder Herman Davis welcomed Metropolitan Tikhon, the head of the Orthodox Church in America, with a traditional offering of bread and salt.
Listen to the audio postcard from the installation ceremony inside St. Michael’s Cathedral in Sitka. You’ll hear part of Mahaffey’s sermon, as well as Fr. Michael Boyle, the dean of St. Michael’s Cathedral, remembering his first impression of the new bishop.