Archbishop Alexy of Sitka and Alaska of the Orthodox Church in America has apologized for not asking Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine during his meeting at the Anchorage Memorial Cemetery and for the “scandal he caused” by doing so. His statement was addressed to the Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, Metropolitan Tikhon, and was published on the official website of the Orthodox Church in America.
The meeting took place on August 15, following talks between Putin and US President Donald Trump in Alaska. The Russian head of state presented the archbishop with an icon.
“I met with the president in a spirit of peaceful hospitality after three days of prayers for peace in the diocese. But afterwards I heard from many that this moment was a missed opportunity to rebuke or insist on peace amid the ongoing conflict and suffering,” Alexy said. “I deeply regret the scandal I have caused,” he wrote, offering “sincere apologies to all who have experienced pain, suffering, or confusion.” “I ask for forgiveness from all who have been hurt or embittered by my actions, especially those who have lost loved ones. I take full responsibility for the confusion and pain caused by my actions. Our Church constantly calls upon the faithful to prayer, to concrete works of mercy, and to strive for peace and reconciliation for all who suffer,” the statement said.
The archbishop specified that the meeting was organized on his initiative and was not coordinated with the Holy Synod of the OCA.
For his part, the head of the OCA, Metropolitan Tikhon, emphasized in his statement that Archbishop Alexy met with Putin on his own initiative without permission from the Holy Synod. “Canonical tradition insists that a bishop does nothing without the knowledge of the metropolitan; this meeting was organized without my knowledge.” The metropolitan also recalled that the OCA was “one of the first Orthodox churches to clearly and repeatedly condemn the aggression against Ukraine”: “From the very beginning, the Orthodox Church in America was among the first Orthodox churches to clearly and repeatedly condemn the aggression against Ukraine, which has caused the loss of countless lives, incalculable suffering, and the displacement of millions. We have consistently raised our voices against violence, prayed for peace in our liturgical services, and provided support to those displaced by the war.”
Reference: Archbishop Alexy of Sitka and Alaska was born in 1965 in the United States with the name John Trader. His father was a Methodist pastor. After his higher education in chemistry, John also studied theology, and finally converted to Orthodoxy and graduated from the Orthodox Institute “St. Tikhon” of the OCA in the state of Pennsylvania, and in 1990 he was accepted as a monk at the “St. Tikhon” monastery. From 1996 to 2018 he was a monk on Mount Athos at the Karakal monastery, in the meantime he also defended his doctorate in patristics and psychology at the Faculty of Theology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. From there he was called by the current head of the OCA, Metropolitan Tikhon, to return to the United States and become a bishop. The ordination took place in 2019, and since March this year he has been elevated to the rank of archbishop (in their tradition this is a degree between bishop and metropolitan).
Archbishop Alexy met publicly with Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15, 2025, as part of the latter’s visit to Fort Richardson National Cemetery in Alaska to pay tribute to the graves of Soviet soldiers buried there.
