Eastern Orthodoxy in Guatemala
Eastern Orthodoxy in Guatemala refers to adherents, communities and organizations of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Guatemala. Many of the Eastern Orthodox Christians in Guatemala are ethnic Mayas. Although the dominant religion in Guatemala is historically Roman Catholicism, in recent decades other Christian denominations have gained adherents there. Eastern Orthodox Christianity in particular has been growing rapidly, as a number of schismatic Catholic groups have expressed their desire to become Eastern Orthodox and have been received under the jurisdiction of Eastern Orthodox hierarchs. Currently, there are two distinct Eastern Orthodox communities in Guatemala, the Antiochian and the Constantinopolitan.
Antiochian
Eastern Orthodox Christianity arrived in Guatemala at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century with immigrants from Eastern Europe and the Middle East. In the 1980s two Catholic women, Mother Inés and Mother María, converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity and established a monastery dedicated to the Holy Trinity. In 1992 they were received into the Antiochian Patriarchate and in 1995 the Catholic Apostolic Orthodox Antiochian Church in Guatemala was formally established. The state orphanage of Hogar Rafael Ayau, established in 1857, was privatized and transferred to their care in 1996.The Antiochian Eastern Orthodox Church in Guatemala is part of the Antiochian Patriarchate's Archdiocese of Mexico, Venezuela, Central America and the Caribbean. Its first temple was dedicated in 1997.
On 5 November 2017, the Monastery of the Holy Trinity and the associated orphanage, Hogar Rafael Ayau, were canonically transferred from the Orthodox Church of Antioch to the Serbian Orthodox Church. Amfilohije, Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral and the Administrator of South-Central America, came to Amatitlán to greet Mother Inés.