ABOUT US

Our Story

The 20th century has brought many ideological, historical, and socioeconomical changes in Romania. Many Romanians who took the way of immigration, carried with them their Orthodox faith. To continue their communion with God and witness their faith, many Romanian communities began establishing missions and churches outside Romania, and at the same time keeping their connection alive with the mother church.

The Romanian community of San Antonio is one of these. The number of Romanians is small, compared to cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit. In 2002, Fr. Iulian Anitei moved with his family from Alaska to San Antonio, to organize the Romanian Orthodox community. Fr. Anitei served the small community of Romanian faithful at a small chapel consecrated to Mother of God. When the chapel closed, the small community was faced with the decision to organize how to continue with their efforts of practicing their Orthodox faith.

This is how St. John Cassian Mission became into existence on May 14, 2014. The mission is under the jurisdiction of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas. For a couple of years, the community rented spaces for service and fellowship. In these years, the mission received the visit of His Eminence Archbishop and Metropolitan Nicolae who encouraged the community to unite even further in their efforts of establishing the first Romanian Orthodox Church in San Antonio.

From February 2016, the mission was under the pastoral guidance of Reverend Father Valentin Dumitru Ilies. Fr. Ilies encountered a small community of Romanian parishioners eager to continue the efforts began by Fr. Anitei. The community continued renting places for worship.

Fr. Ilies not only instilled the community with an even bigger desire to establish the Romanian church in San Antonio but also brought his years of experience in establishing and growing an Orthodox community. Uniting their efforts, the community members purchased a land to construct the building for the new church. The project had to be abandoned due to unforeseen difficulties in obtaining all the required permits.

In 2022, St. John Cassian became a parish and from 2020 has a second saint patron, St. Andrei Saguna, Metropolitan of Transylvania.

In 2019, the community purchased a building that became the permanent site for the church. In 2023, the house next door was purchased and houses Sunday school classes.

2024 was the year when our church was consecrated and since then we continued to grow, receive new members and new converts in the Orthodox church.