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Memo to Syosset: Retired or Not Retired? That is the Question

I am technically under Antioch’s jurisdiction, but I always had a very positive opinion when it came to the Orthodox Church since it was introduced to me by +Abp Lazar of Canada. As a result, my heart was in the OCA, but I was received by Antioch only because there was no OCA parish in the state where I live.

Now as I continue to see this conspiracy come more and more to light, it makes it really really hard to call myself “American Orthodox.” First they forced +Met. Jonah from his position. Then the entire Synod attempted to cast a smoke screen by notifying the media that he allegedly covered up an alleged rape by a ROCOR priest when, in reality, he was refusing to meddle in ROCOR’s affairs for which the priest belonged. Then the “Holy” Synod lacks the responsibility to correct what was said thereby silently consenting to have the statement speak for everyone demonstrating a staggering level of untruth. And never mind the lack of a responsible investigation of what transpired at Manton regarding Archimandrite Meletios. To my knowledge, no action has been taken and no public confirmation of an investigation has been made, but almost at a drop of a hat, they send +Bishop Matthias on leave because one of his priest’s committed some crime of a sexual nature?

Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, I never heard of child molestation or adverse sexual/moral problems in the Orthodox Church before I was baptized. I won’t say that I thought it was untouched by scandal, but I understood most scandals were concerning doctrine and calling out heretics such as Nestorius, Arius, etc. Now I’ve come to realize, when it comes to abuse (whether it be sexual, verbal, or whatever), Roman Catholicism picks a small minority, but in the Orthodox Church, it seems everyone is a target. Nobody’s safe. How in the world am I supposed to tolerate this for the rest of my life when I’m having trouble coming to terms with it having only been baptized a year and a half ago? Since the time that I was 15, monasticism was a real desire of mine, but now at 24 I realize that it’s just a trash idea. No hierarch is trustworthy to put myself under obedience to; especially in the OCA. They’re all mad. Maybe this is a warped idea of what the Orthodox Church is, or what Orthodox monasticism is but it seems to be what I am seeing over and over and over again.

And while this is more specific to the OCA, they could just have easily succumbed to this tragedy as any other church here in America. This example only goes to show how fragile the Orthodox Church is in general unless it is state-sponsored. Has Orthodoxy always had this problem of disrespect for the righteous and humble hierarchs by dismissing them and then turning right around and honoring the ones full of themselves who are assisting in the perpetuation of abusive behaviors or is this just new and only an American problem? Is the only reason these churches survived because they were state-sponsored and dissenters were persecuted/stamped out?

Looking at the Roman Catholic Church as an outsider, I see a perpetual sickness of pride with a symptom of pedophilia. I’ve wondered if Orthodoxy would have such similar symptoms when they claimed to be the inheritors and holders of Jesus’ priesthood like the Roman Catholic Church or even the Mormons. Now I’m starting to wonder if the Roman Catholic Church has HALF as many of the symptoms as Orthodoxy. Because it has now become my firm belief that when you start claiming that, as an individual, you have the authority of God and others believe you, you’ve crossed the line of sanity. I wonder now how many popes have actually confirmed this claim.

In any case, I really don’t know where else to go from here…

» Posted By perplexedstepan On September 15, 2012 @ 4:17 pm