Joseph Raffaele was the founder of the American Orthodox Catholic Church - Western Rite Mission, Diocese of New York.
The parish of St. Gregory's grew slowly, while Raffaele and his assistants, following the pattern of Old Catholic churches, continued to work at other jobs and spent their remaining time on the church.
The parish would around this time move from Sayville to Shirley and later Ronkonkoma, New York.
Raffaele would not agree to do so, and he and the parish left the church, to be excommunicated from it by Zaborowski shortly thereafter.
Six months after being made a bishop, Raffaele and his church left the Mount Athos Synod, and formed the American Orthodox Catholic Church - Western Rite Mission, Diocese of New York.