[Retraction: Previously in this site, I linked to an account reporting on alleged sexual misconduct and abuse among senior clerics of the Orthodox Church in America's Alaska diocese, and the apparent subsequent punishment of the whistleblower. A reader in the comboxes below points out that there was intensely embarrassing personal information about an alleged victim, information that was not germane to the abuse allegation, and which did not need to be revealed for the sake of justice. On reflection, I agree with the reader's perspective, and withdraw the link to the story. My withdrawal of the link should be seen not as my trying to protect the alleged malefactors, who, if they're guilty, deserve exposure and punishment. I don't want to be party to putting humiliating personal information out that has nothing to do with the abuse being alleged. I wish it were possible to link to the account without also being party to disclosing the embarrassing but irrelevant personal information, but there's not, at least not at the moment. Sorry for the confusion.]
Same old same old
Wednesday August 8, 2007
Categories: Religion (general)
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Rod Dreher is an editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and author of "Crunchy Cons" (Crown Forum), a nonfiction book about conservatives, most of them religious, whose faith and political convictions sometimes put them at odds with mainstream conservatives. The views expressed in this blog are his own.
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I have a question which may or may not be off the subjct at hand, but were the desert fathers Catholics or East Orthodox??
The Desert Fathers predated the formal split between Rome and the Orthodox. They are revered in both traditions.
She's back....... ;^)
I met Fr. Isidore a couple of years ago. I was born in Anchorage, and it was my first time back up there since becoming Orthodox. I found him to be nice, if maybe a bit young for the meteoric rise that he was clearly enjoying, and I enjoyed talking to him. The one thing that stuck out a bit for me was this: I had also met the priest at the Greek parish in Anchorage, and Fr. Isidore made a bit of a snarky comment about running into the priest at Greek restaurants asking for money. (Between that and a couple of other comments from various folks, it was clear there was no love lost between the Russians and the Greeks in Alaska, one way or the other. and that neither of them were happy that the Antiochians had a big cathedral in Eagle River.)
Anyway, I'm deeply grieved that this is happening, but the OCA has major problems in Alaska--there are 90 or so parishes/missions throughout the state and perhaps 30-35 priests. Few are paid, and few of those who are paid receive a fulltime income. St. Herman's Seminary seems to have a lot of trouble thriving. A vague impression I have is that the Diocese of Alaska tries to evangelize by making Orthodoxy a tourist trap--between the Museum in downtown Anchorage and Ekutna... well, I just don't get it. Bp. Nikolai is not somebody I've ever met, but it comes across as a situation where he was brought in because it was believed that his toughness would address certain problems, and the problems seem to have just been made worse. I'd hate to believe that he has been beating Fr. Isidore, but in context of everything else, it seems likely that there is some kind of inappropriate relationship there (and I don't use that terminology to imply more than I know; I just don't know any other terminology to use).
Of course, the Antiochians have their own problems up there, too--the cathedral's mission-planting desires have backfired on them at least once, and badly. I met a former member of one of these missions who said, very bluntly, "We were Ben Lomond, just without all the money and property."
It's too bad. Pray for Fr. Isidore, pray for Bp. Nikolai, pray for Alaska, pray for the OCA.
Richard
She's back.
She was, but she's been deleted, and she will continue to be deleted as long as this blog exists. It's kind of weirdly fascinating to me, to observe someone so driven by her angry personal fixation that she can't just move on, and do something more constructive with what talents she possesses. But there is one favor she does me by continuing to come around here: each time she visits this site, she drives up my page views, which ultimately puts money in my pocket.
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