www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News new site on OCA financial scandal

I got this information today: www.ocanews.org [ocanews.org]

If these details are true, what consequences will this scandal have in the so called "adminstrative unity" of Orthodox in North America?

Dear Byzantine Citizen,

These type of scandals are nothing new to Orthodox jurisdictions.

Sometimes they are for real and sometimes they are not. Sometimes they are simply blown out of proportion.

As I said in a recent post, Orthodoxy has its own set of problems and temptations so we shouldn't look at the problems and temptations of others, but pray that one day we can unite with the West and that there will be a system of checks and balances.

As for Administrative unity in U.S. Orthodoxy, I didn't see it happening for a myriad of reasons anyway.

The biggest problem I see in scandals of any Church is that in broadcasting them, (on the internet, in television and other media) many souls become disillusioned with organized religion and fall away from a good spiritual life and possibly, salvation.

In Christ,
Alice

From what is posted on this particular site and how it is posted, I hardly think any reasonable person would lose faith in their Church. To the contrary, it should strengthen one's faith that such fearless men and women exist, willing to hold the Church to the highest standards of integrity.

On the other hand, I can not attest that all discussions of this matter have been in the same tone and of the same quality of content. As Alice seems to imply, to the extent that scandal is brought up for the sake of relishing the scandal, it is a largely destructive endeavor.

On that note, I would like to offer a personal testimony to anyone unfamiliar with some of the protaganists involved. Having broken bread with Protodeacon Eric Wheeler numerous times when he visited my home parish and my seminary, and having been part of Archpriest Dimitri Grigorieff's flock in Washington, I can only say that they were then, and most likely remained, men of the highest personal integrity, piety, and dedication to the Orthodox Catholic Faith and Church.

In Christ,
Andrew

This may be true Alice, but if you take a look at the 'scandals', as in this one which has been going on for at least 10 years, you will see nothing happening to change things, other than the whistle blower getting fired/relocated, etc.

On the other hand, once the scandal is out in the open on the internet/tv/etc. suddenly you see the heirarchs scrambling to do what they should have done in the first place. Unfortunately their motive is rarely for the good of the spiritual church.
I don't think anyone wants to initially air their dirty laundry in public, but if years go by and you see nothing but more abuse and more coverups, you have to do what you have to do. The Catholic sex scandals would still be going on to the same degree had it not been for the media.

I applaud these men and pray for them.
Ittakes guts to stand up for what is right. They basically stood alone. Think about the harm caused to their souls, getting it from both ends. They in the long run may suffer more damage than anyone just reading about it. They lived it.

This is a very large amount of money. There should be accountability.

Sam

Dear Andrew and Sam,

In all fairness, I only skim through these kind of things.

I was close to and around one of the biggest 'scandals' around in the GOA, one that was totally fabricated and exaggerated against a human being because of self serving agendas, a 'scandal' that created a civil war between souls that took years to heal...

So please forgive my cynicism about these things.

I was not implying anything about priests that deserve to be punished for committing the most heinous crimes against innocents.

Whether a 'scandal' is just or not, the undisputed fact is that such publicity has disillusioned many, especially the young, from organized religion.

Sincerely in Christ,
Alice

I often have to wonder- is it the publicity or the scandal itself that disillusions?

Sam

You know what? At least there you do something. Catholic lay people are publicaly denouncing bishops who covered sex scandals, Orthodox people denounce and inform others about probable cases of bad management and procedures.

It's certainly true that there's are risks: being uncharitable, discrediting the hierarchy and dissapoint believers and probable converts, etc. But staying quiet is much worse.

This is evident in some Latin-American countries, where you can find very poor Orthodox Churches without temples and missions that contrast with wealthy bishops and suposed "benefactors". I don't imply that somoene's stealing anything, but no one really gives accountability of their actions whatever they are (pastoral, financial, facilities, conversions) and the results are evident (someone told me the amount of priests who left or where defrocked is as high as those still working for the Church).

It's not surprising that the Orthodox Church in some places is regarded as an exclusive club of Arabic-speaking elders and businessmen. (While in fact, at least in Mexico, the OCA Exarchate has more followers than the Antiochian Church). The EP has almost vanished because of the scandals.

No wonder why independent Orthodox Bishoprics like that of Archbishop Chrysostomos in South-America are now more succesful while the "official" churches are getting empty.

At least the OCA members are going to get an explanation. Like I say in all these things, we don't know the full story. If you have ever known a great deal about a detailed story and then heard what the news reports you will understand.

Dear Alice you said:

"I was close to and around one of the biggest 'scandals' around in the GOA, one that was totally fabricated and exaggerated against a human being because of self serving agendas, a 'scandal' that created a civil war between souls that took years to heal..."

I say:

I want to clarify to readers of your post that the so called 'scandal' that appeared in newspapers, etc., was not the real scandal. The real scandal was that clerics and church members could actually fabricate 'lies' and spread them throughout the secular newspapers. They did this in order to destroy a hierarch of the highest integrity for their own personal gain and self serving agenda's.

The rift in our Church continues to this day because no apology or repentance has been offered or shown. For that reason, I would strongly suggest that one should hesitate before accepting too readily a scandal in 'any' Church.

Zenovia