Spiritual leader of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese passed away

His Eminence, Metropolitan Nicholas, 75, spiritual leader of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the U.S.A., reposed March 13, 2011, after waging a courageous battle with cancer.

In the obituary of American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the U.S.A. reads that Metropolitan Nicholas was born on February 23, 1936. The son of the late Anna (Totin) and Andrew Smisko, he is a priestly vocation from Saint John the Baptist Church, Perth Amboy, New Jersey. After graduating from Perth Amboy High School, he entered the Christ the Saviour Seminary in Johnstown, Pennsylvania to study for the Holy Priesthood. Upon graduation, he was ordained on January 11, 1959, by Bishop Orestes in Perth Amboy, N.J. His first pastorate was at the Saints Peter and Paul Church in Windber, Pennsylvania, where he served until 1962.

A new phase of his life began when he embarked on a year's study at the renowned Patriarchal Theological Academy at Halki, Constantinople. During his stay in the city, the young priest was assigned by the late Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras to serve the spiritual needs of the large Slavic Orthodox community in the Galata section of Istanbul. He also traveled extensively throughout Europe and the Middle East, visiting the sacred sites of the Holy Land and living for a time on Mount Athos, the ancient monastic center of the Orthodox Church.

Upon his return to the United States, he resumed his studies at the University of Youngstown, Ohio, and the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. He was then assigned as Prefect of Discipline at Christ the Saviour Seminary in Johnstown, and served several parishes in the Johnstown area, before relocating in 1971 to New York City, where he served as pastor of St. Nicholas Church.

He was elevated to the rank of Archimandrite in 1976, and was elected by the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople as auxiliary bishop for the Ukrainian Orthodox Diocese of America and was consecrated as bishop on March 13, 1983.

Following the death of Bishop John Martin in September of 1984, Bishop Nicholas was chosen as the third ruling hierarch of the Carpatho-Russian Diocese and was enthroned in the Christ the Saviour Cathedral by His Eminence, Archbishop Iakovos on April 19, 1985.

He was elevated to the rank of Metropolitan, by His All-Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I on November 24, 1997.