A damning report

Sorry to hear that, but good thing the truth came out.

I hope a more transparent process will be put in place to prevent this sort of thing in the future.

Lord, have mercy!

About how many people in the OCA aren't ethnically Russian? Just curious.

I am in Bishop Benjamin's diocese, and I thank God for him. Now we can finally begin the process of cleaning up the mess left by Metr. Herman and Metr. Theodosius.

(And to answer Scott's question, lots of non-Russians in the OCA. I'm ethnically Swedish, and my parish is quite multinational in that regard.)

I thought the report was fascinating and well-written in its matter of fact style. In spite of that direct style one can sense the outrage of the committee as the deceit and wrongdoing pile up through the years. That Kondratick fellow is a real piece of work, as well as his family. I hope that in addition to being deposed he goes to prison for a long time, and that they get back as much as they can from what he stole.

I had always heard people speak in awe of M. Theodosios, and I guess that is part of the problem. The whole smells and bells world of the liturgical churches creates a kind of other world, one of mystery and awe. I remember the first time this protestant boy went into a pre vatican II Catholic church in a small town in Kansas. It was truly amazing to me, the statues and altars. I wondered what the heck it was all about. The little confessional booths, elaborately carved, especially fascinated me, especially the secretive aspect of it. I got into huge trouble when I went into the priest's booth and tried to look through the screen from his side.

Evil men, like Kondratick, can manipulate this mystery because they feel that the "Holy Church" is above all worldly accountability. They have as their allies merely vain men (and blackmailed gay men? as the report vaguely hints at) like +MT and +M. Herman, who just like to dress up and play church in their shiny, expensive vestments and jewels, and then live in extravagance the rest of time. The seem to always be saying, "Let's just keep it all a secret for those of us in the select inner circle, and then we can do as we please."

There is a kind of gnosticism in all this that hierarchical, liturgical churches have never confronted, and the sexual and financial scandals in the RC and OCA come out of that. If you are not of this world, after all, and have a special knowledge of the divine mysteries, why should you have to follow this world's rules with sex or money? " We are above all that," they seem to say by their every action.

This is not limited to the hierarchical churches, of course. Jack Hayford had to confront a group of Pentecostal pastors who have held it is impossible for them to sin due to Holy Spirit regeneration, so they can dismiss there wives and take new ones at any time as part of their "Christian freedom." I do think, however, that the whole air of mystery attached to a hierarchy and closed society of men who wear fancy gowns is an invitation to sexual and other kinds of impropriety.

John C,

I'll take your questions to be well-meaning; if you didn't already know, there is no small amount of politics involved with both questions.

In answer to your first question, no, the OCA is not under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch; at least, no more than the Greek Orthodox Church (as opposed to the GO Archdiocese in America), the Georgian Church, or the Russian Church. The OCA was granted autocephaly by the Russian church in the '70s.

Why would the Patriarch of Moscow do such a thing? Trust me, he has his hands full with Russia.

Ah, man. Kondracks (sp?) ordered the refusal of sacraments to one of the whistleblowers and his family under the auspices of the whistleblower trying to destroy the church!

I wonder. There were so many people (a lot of clergy) complicit in this deal - some perhaps because they were blackmailable. How many of these men were beloved by their parishioners? I noted that Wheeler, one of the whistleblowers was banned from the AAC (big meeting of some sort - I'm not Orthodox) so invited the faithful to contact him and only SIX did so. So many were in the loop and dropped the ball.

There have to be a lot of heartsick people out there - not only those disillusioned by the fraud itself but those whose beloved priests have been exposed as complicit.

The OCA is in a world of hurt and will be in a bigger world of hurt if those who contributed to specific funds decide to not only prosecute but sue.

I know that no audited books are available, but there should have been an information return on Form 990 (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf) filed with the IRS for the 501(c)(3). I'd say thos information returns for the OCA are fraudulent, in addition to the personal returns filed by the principals in this fraud.

Rod, I am so sorry. I know what this church means to you (beyond the purely spiritual).

Ah, Rachel, not to worry. I have protected myself this time, having learned my lesson before. Thanks, though! I appreciate your good wishes and your prayers.

Rod, I am glad to hear about your protection and your lesson. I was seriously worried because this report really took me back to a different time and place that I'd almost forgotten about.

Yes, you and your church have my thoughts and prayers.

To take up on Rachel's comments. Which insurance company, if any, underwrote the OCA and its officers for professional liability? How could they grant this underwriting this given the lack of financial controls? Talk about negligence. They will also be in for a world of hurt pretty soon, if not already.

Thank God it's over--I'm sure it was and is difficult for all. My prayers for everyone affected, and for healing all around.

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.

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.

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.