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#272661 - 01/11/08 07:10 AM
questionable ordination in Alaska
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Grateful
Member
Registered: 08/03/04
Posts: 3446
Loc: Ohio, USA
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According to the UPI and the Anchorage Daily News , there has been a questionable ordination in the Russian Orthodox Church in Alaska. According to these articles, the Russian Orthodox Church in Alaska tonsured a man who was convicted of (and spent a year in prison for) having sex with under-age girls, which he videotaped and which he engaged in while he was enrolled as an adult student in the seminary. If these articles are accurate, am I missing something here? Especially after the clergy-sex-abuse scandals of just a few years ago?  "Youthful indiscretions" (as the bishop put it) is one thing, but this? Wouldn't this kind of situation require a prolonged period of penance and pyshcological monitoring prior to ordination, if ordination was still an option? Also, what steps has the Church taken to prove that this man is not a threat to under-age girls . . . and to other people . . . and to sensitive data?  My apologies if this topic was already posted in another thread, but this is the first that I have read about this. -- John
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#272688 - 01/11/08 12:06 PM
Re: questionable ordination in Alaska
[Re: harmon3110]
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Member
Registered: 04/30/06
Posts: 111
Loc: Illinois
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Chancellor Archimandrite Isidore rightly said "The church believes everyone is redeemable," . . . but given the nature of the crimes, I think they're just asking for trouble. The biggest concern I have is this: In an interview, Isidore claimed Dushkin's crimes weren't predatory in nature. "From my understanding, it was a situation that could be termed statutory rape -- which albeit is wrong, but very much different than molesting a child, for example." That argument might hold true for an 18 year old and his 16 year old girlfriend . . . but a 22 year old seminary student with 13 and 14 year old girls is hardly the same thing. I pray that this won't lead to more abuse, and also that it won't hurt the Russian Orthodox Church in Alaska. Dave
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#272691 - 01/11/08 12:15 PM
Re: questionable ordination in Alaska
[Re: Priest's Grandson]
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Member
Registered: 04/04/05
Posts: 3355
Loc: US
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John, all I can say, is thank God your diocese is under Archbishop Job.
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#272705 - 01/11/08 01:42 PM
Re: questionable ordination in Alaska
[Re: Terry Bohannon]
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Member
Registered: 04/20/06
Posts: 588
Loc: Canada
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Here is the information on Tereny Duskin: Reader Terenty John Dushkin
Aliases:
Mepp Dushkin
DOB: 7/31/1981
Convicted
Race: Indian (American or Alaskan Native); Sex: Male; Height: 5'5"; Weight: 170 lbs.; Hair: Brown; Eyes: Hazel
Terenty Duskin attended St. Herman of Alaska Seminary in Kodiak, Alaska, in the fall of 2003. St. Herman is one of three seminaries belonging to the Orthodox Church in America (OCA).
According to Bishop Nikolai (Soraich), the OCA bishop in Alaska at the time, Duskin was expelled from the seminary in December of that year, "because he did not follow certain rules required of all students." The bishop did not specify which rules were broken.
Duskin applied for readmission to the seminary. However, before a decision could be made on his application, he was arrested and charged with 11 sex crimes.
Dushkin was 22 years old at the time of his arrest in July of 2004. In nine of the felony charges against him Dushkin was accused of having sexual contact with girls between the ages of 13 and 15. Two additional felonies alleged that Duskin had videotaped sex scenes with a 17-year-old girl. Some of the charges dated back to 2002, while the most recent was alleged to have occurred in June of 2004.
Duskin was convicted on three of the counts on May 5, 2005, as set forth below, and served his time in a corrections facility. Additional information may be obtained from the Alaskan sex offender registry.
According to official website of the Diocese of Alaska, Dushkin was tonsured a reader at St. Innocent Cathedral in Anchorage by Bishop Nikolai on December 9, 2007.
Although a reader is the first rank or order of the priesthood, in the lower 48, the position has a relatively minor role to play in the liturgical life of the Church. However, in Alaska, many parishes do not have a priest. The reader then assumes an important role in the local religious community. He will baptize new members of the community, and conduct the majority of the services. A reader in Alaska has not only the aura of authority, but in the remote villages he will have the respect and status normally reserved for a priest.
Criminal Cases:
Court Docket Number: 3UN-S04-213
Court: SUPERIOR COURT UNALASKA
Conviction Date: 5/5/2005
Offense Date: 6/24/2004
Statute: AS11.41.436(A)(1)
Description: Sexual Abuse of Minor 2
Court Docket Number: 3UN-S04-215
Court: SUPERIOR COURT UNALASKA
Conviction Date: 5/5/2005
Offense Date: 12/26/2003
Statute: AS11.41.455(A)(3)
Description: Exploit Minor-make porn, adlt touch chld
Court Docket Number: 3UN-S04-220
Court: SUPERIOR COURT UNALASKA
Conviction Date: 5/5/2005
Offense Date: 9/22/2003
Statute: AS11.41.438(A)(1)
Description: Sex Abuse Minor 3-contact 13-15,3 yr dif
Terenty Dushkin is under the supervision of the Alaska Department of Corrections; he is required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Condition #9 of his Special Conditions of Probation/Sex Offender Conditions is: "No accepting employment or engaging in any volunteer community activity which involves contact with female minors under the age of sixteen. In Alaska there is a shortage of clergy and in many rural villages, it is the reader who is the respected leader of the religious community leading the Obidnitsa liturgy, singing of psalms, acathists etc. Also it was the tradtion in very remote areas for a reader to baptise and baby and then the family would wait until a priest came to chrismate the baby. If a priest only visits once a year you can see how important a reader is. This is not a position for a convicted sex offender. Terenty Duskin also comes from a prominent family. His stepfather was Carl Moses, long time respected member of the Alaska House of Representatives, who also served on the board of directors of The Aleut Corporation. His ordination has upset many in the Orthodox Church. You can read the discussion here: http://www.ocanews.org/serendipity/index.php?/archives/196-ADN-Story-on-Alaska.html
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#272740 - 01/11/08 06:58 PM
Re: questionable ordination in Alaska
[Re: Father Anthony]
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Member
Registered: 11/03/03
Posts: 306
Loc: Farmington Hills,MI
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No way anyone with such a record should be advanced even to the rank of Reader.I'm sick of OCA folks(the Alaskan Diocese is actually part of the OCA,NOT the Russian Church as the report states)on another forum saying things like,who are we to judge,he's paid his dues to society,etc.Sorry folks,the man was convicted as an adult.Yes,I too am a sinner,I admit I don't deserve to stand in front of God's Altar,BUT I was married for over 30 years and despite many sins,I never cheated on my wife once.I'm not bragging about not doing something which NO Christian ought to do,clergy or not.Now I'm a widower and in the event that I should marry again,I'd have to step down from the priesthood first,I'd be "Mr." instead of "Father" the rest of my days.In fact on the day of my wife's funeral,my oldest son ,who is a tonsured Reader,recieved Holy Communion,but my younger son,who is living with his girlfriend,did not.He didn't attempt to,knowing that I wouldn't have allowed it.
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#272744 - 01/11/08 07:31 PM
Re: questionable ordination in Alaska
[Re: Fr. Al]
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Member
Registered: 01/26/07
Posts: 301
Loc: Southern California
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I wish that more would be like you! Memory eternal for your wife. Prayers that your son will be restored.
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#272745 - 01/11/08 07:33 PM
Re: questionable ordination in Alaska
[Re: Fr. Al]
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Member
Registered: 01/26/07
Posts: 301
Loc: Southern California
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My best friend is OCA and she is mad about it. I think alot of folks from listening to her are disconected from the situation.It hasn't been in my parish.....
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#272766 - 01/11/08 11:15 PM
Re: questionable ordination in Alaska
[Re: harmon3110]
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Member
Registered: 04/04/05
Posts: 3355
Loc: US
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The current Metropolitan must go, and the Bishop of Alaska with him. The OCA then needs to figure out exactly what it's going to be.
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#272767 - 01/11/08 11:17 PM
Re: questionable ordination in Alaska
[Re: AMM]
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Member
Registered: 03/15/06
Posts: 621
Loc: UNDER THE PANTOCRATOR
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Are there any rumors regarding help from Moscow? (Or Jordanville)
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#272768 - 01/11/08 11:20 PM
Re: questionable ordination in Alaska
[Re: InCogNeat3's]
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Member
Registered: 04/04/05
Posts: 3355
Loc: US
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Are there any rumors regarding help from Moscow? (Or Jordanville) No, nor would it be welcome.
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