With all the political news this week, I didn't want to let pass the publication of a stunning report by the Special Investigating Committee of the Orthodox Church in America. The SIC was charged with investigating the financial scandal that has rocked the upper hierarchy of the OCA (my church) for the past several years.
The verdict was unsparing: investigators blamed the entire administrative structure of the OCA -- including the Holy Synod -- for the scandal. It is scathing. It makes it clear that the Metropolitan is a crook. Was a crook -- he resigned today.
Said Bishop Benjamin: "What we find in this report is an incredible failure at many levels to act responsibly. Many flags went up and people failed to, or chose not to, address them."
I sure hate to read this stuff, but it's a victory for the Church and the Gospel for the truth to come out, at last.
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My own church (the Roman Catholic Church) has weathered some horrific scandals of late. That being said, I cannot say just how shocked I was by the report. No one can take pleasure in it. Yes, it is good that it finally came out. Most likely, this is only the middle of the beginning and nowhere near the end.
As one who has had a long interest in the Eastern Churches, both Orthodox and Catholic, I appreciated the breadth of vision and the audacious move that the Tomos of Autocephaly represented. The idea of an autocephalous church in America was a bold one for the time and sadly, probably still is.
There's a lot of potential in the OCA. But it will be a long time before things get back on track. As an outsider to the OCA, my own hopes for the new Metropolitan is that he'll be someone like Archbishop of Job of Chicago or even Bishop Benjamin of San Francisco and the West. I have especially been impressed by Archbishop Job. The letter of apology he wrote to Mark Stokoe was especially heartfelt. I wish we had more bishops like him in the Roman Catholic Church.
One thing with the Roman Catholic bishops in the USA have not come to terms with is their own treason. Many of the scandals were enabled by them. Hopefully, the OCA hierarchs will come to a sense of their own treason in this respect. This is most likely not over and may not be over for years to come. True, heartfelt repentance is a good first step.
Thanks for the kind words, Robert Badger. I have the great good fortune to live in the Diocese of the West and, although I agree that Bp. Benjamin might be tapped to be Metropolitan, I rather hope that we get to keep him around here instead. We've already sent one of our beloved elders, Abbot Jonah, to serve another diocese as their new auxiliary bishop, and it would be nice if we could keep our shepherd here. (Rod, if you haven't already met Jonah, you're in for a treat. He's a wonderfully kind and wise man. Y'all in the Diocese of the South are blessed to have him.) Job would be my choice for Metropolitan, if I got a vote, but he really, really doesn't want the job, which of course, makes him eminently suited for it. Too bad that more of our bishops among the Orthodox and Catholics aren't cut from the same cloth as St. Ambrose.
The chair of my diocese, the Diocese of Pittsburgh and Western Pa. has been vacant since last summer when our beloved Bishop Kyrill passed away. We just had "meet and greets" with the four candidates -- it's possible that one of these gentlemen who's not picked for Pittsburgh could be chosen for one of the other open sees.
Thanks for the kind words Scott Walker. Yes, there is a dearth of good bishops out there. Too often, American Catholic bishops have cared more about fitting in with the political elite, avoiding scandal, and keeping nice balance sheets than the gospel of Christ.
The best bishops are often the ones who don't want to be bishops. St. John Neumann fought his episcopal appointment, but became the Bishop of Philadelphia anyway. He was not the best administrator perhaps, but he was one of the best shepherds that Archdiocese ever had. There was, perhaps, no one more devoted. He even went out of his way to master Irish Gaelic to hear the confessions of Irish Gaelic speaking Catholics.
I now live in South Korea. You will be happy to hear that there is an Orthodox Archdiocese here. The Orthodox Metropolis of Korea is currently lead by Metropolitan Ambrosios of Korea whom I met when he was the Auxiliary Bishop. From my first impression in seeing him at the altar, he looked kind of severe and ascetic, almost like an Old Testament prophet. But in getting to talk to him, I found him exceedingly kind and welcoming, so first impressions aren't always the most correct. His predecessor, Metropolitan Sotirios did tremendous labours here building parishes, a seminary, and a monstery. Metropolitan Sotirios seems to believe that the bishop should remain wedded to his diocese, so he remains here at the monastery where he is engaged in the translation of liturgical texts. The Orthodox Metropolis of Korea is under the canonical protection of the Ecumenical Patriarchate at the present time. It is very, very small with no more than 3,000 members in eight parishes throughout the country. When he was the auxiliary bishop, Metropolitan Ambrosios had to work as a university professor in addition to his duties as a bishop. I presume that Hankuk University will be in the market for a new Greek professor now.
I'm also Orthodox, in the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America, which is a dioscese in the OCA. Like many others in the OCA, I've been watching this whole thing with bated breath, wondering when/if/how much of the truth would be admitted. I say "admitted" rather than "discovered" because most of the facts had already come out; the hierarchy had simply not admitted that they were true or chosen to take action.
While my heart aches for so many who will be hurt by this overdue admission of the truth, I am also proud for the first time in many years to be in the OCA. Like many converts without any significant Russian or Eastern European heritage, I've seen other churches face scandals. Most do so poorly, their desire not to wash their dirty laundry in public overruling our Lord's commands to be truthful and to confess our sins. I'm honored to be part of a church that's an exception to the norm.
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