Our beloved Archimandrite Gerasim (Eliel), dean of St Seraphim’s Cathedral, Dallas, has been elected by the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America to be the Bishop of Fort Worth, Auxiliary to His Eminence Archbishop Alexander (Golitzin), the Archbishop of Dallas and the South.
In addition to being primate of the Bulgarian Exarchate for the OCA, Archbishop Alexander, the successor to the Venerable Dmitri Royster of thrice-blessed memory, has had to travel from his home in Ohio to Dallas (and other cities throughout the South). The election of Abbot Gerasim will no doubt be of considerable help to him in pastoring this vast diocese.
We, of course, love Abbot Gerasim and we ask that you all pray for him as he makes his transition to Auxilary Bishop in the Diocese of the South.
Axios!
In no way am I questioning whether His Eminence Archbishop Alexander is a good bishop, but I wonder why a bishop resides outside of his diocese?
I get that even if he lives within the Diocese of the South that help is needed since it is such a large diocese which is growing at a fast pace.
I just find it odd that he doesn’t reside in the city or surrounding area of his cathedral.
I can answer that Justin: His Eminence was first elected to be the Bishop of the Bulgarian Exarchate of the OCA. His see was in Toledo (which is the cathedral city of the Bulgarian Exarchate). He moved there because of that. He was only elected to be Archbishop of Dallas and the South some years later.
Wouldn’t it be better, George, if His Eminence would encourage the Bulgarian Exarchate to be under the Omophorion of the Bulgarians?
Why not remove the ethnic appellation a incorporate into the oca proper
rj klanco- I’m down for that with all the Ethno churches in North America but since most ethnicities are not I think a first stage would require them to be one in the same with the larger Bulgarian diaspora.
George, it’s actually just called the Bulgarian Diocese (OCA), as opposed to Bulgarian Exarchate.
Thank you, Alex.
Jstruggle: not a bad idea, actually. Or an even better one would be for all three ethnic exarchates to be absorbed into the territory of the diocese in which they reside.
That would make more sense. How many of the Albanian, Bulgarian, or Romanian parishes in the OCA actually use their native languages? How would this be different to the parishes that still use mostly Slavonic (they exist), Georgian, or even Spanish, yet continue to exist within the regular diocesan structure?
Basil, in answer to your question, the Albanian Archdiocese and Bulgarian Diocese within the OCA use mostly English. Within the Romanian Episcopate, it’s a mixture of Romanian and English. Though, depending on what parish you’re visiting, you might find yourself hearing more Romanian than English.
@George 100% what would it take to get that job done?
Thank you for your reply, George. I was aware of that fact, however I assumed the diocese of the South is much larger and would therefore require more attention.
I know many had hoped Bishop Gerasim would have been elected as Archbishop a few years ago so this seems like a great thing for this vast and growing diocese.
Axios!!!
Great news. With Bishop Alexis and now Bishop-elect Gerasim, iot looks like OCA’s future might be quite strong.
In other positive OCA news: https://domoca.org/notice-hodges-2/
I like his statement.
Not trying to be a spoilsport, but did Archbishop Alexander or Bishop Gerasim make any acknowledgements about how wiping the communion spoon with alcohol was not a good idea, or issue any statements about putting our faith in Christ over the vaccine, masks, not kissing icons, social distancing during the past year? Also, the local OCA-DOS parish here is still wearing masks even though I can no go nearly anywhere, including Walmart, without one. They are in the company of basically a few leftist-run coffee shops and private businesses where I live. I’m not saying this is not good news – I wouldn’t know if it is or not. Certainly it is a good news in the fact that Bishop Gerasim lives in Texas and seems to have a kind demeanor etc.
You’d have to contact them and ask. I can tell you that I have never, personally, had my communion spoon wiped or witnessed the other things you mentioned in the presence of either.
I agree with Gail here. Also at our parish there has been none of this wiping of the spoon nonsense.
Thank you M o T. Isn’t this the diocese that completely locked down and in which the AB wrote a scathing letter to his own people?
No, it’s not, Alan.
Forgive me Gail, but it is that diocese. I didn’t want to bring that up, but it is. The letter said something to the effect of “do you really want people that care about their “liberty” worshipping with you?” This was in regards to people who were speaking up about masks and not kissing icons, etc. I know the letter had a big effect on at least several people in the diocese, and contributed to them leaving..it did for us. I know when we were not willing to comply with the spoon wiping and were not open to being convinced otherwise (known as “discussion”) we were immediately removed from the mailing list at our parish and never heard from our former priest again. I have seen several of your posts here Alan and I am definitely tracking with you. I DO think it is wonderful that Gail NEVER saw these things in their presence.
I know in another diocese two priests doing things completely differently and you really have to wonder, is it the bishop or the priest at this point? (Or does it all go back to the bishop ultimately?) In any case, that is above my pay grade – I just want a holy place to attend church.
When Alan spoke of that “scathing letter”, I assumed he was talking about the one from Archbishop Benjamin. He is in the West.
You’re talking about a letter attributed to Abbot Gerasim. I am very aware of that letter, too, but refuse to give it air time because I don’t think he wrote it. I have two sources who have voiced the same thing and the letter does not line up with anything I personally know about Abbot Gerasim.
With regard to why the bishops are saying one thing and the priests are saying another, I don’t know how to explain it. It’s got to be a “priest thing” when we’ve got Antioch priests telling us there are no restrictions in their parishes after reading letters coming from their bishop that say the opposite.
Perhaps it’s all in the translation:
from Diocese to Parishese…
🙂
I’m not from the DoS, but I believe I came across this letter when someone shared it with me when the pandemic was still in full swing here in NY. That is, if we’re talking about the same thing. The letter I’m referring to is titled “Letter on Divisions in the Church” and it’s still up on the OCA website – I just checked. It’s seems pretty certain that . . . had put a hand to that text. At the very least, you can see that he is copied on the cover letter written by . . ., and thus implicitly stands by the content. As far as the letter goes I didn’t find it to be scandalous, or remarkable in any way from all the other letters coming from church leadership around the country and the world during that year. I don’t think it’s existence is some kind of indictment of . . . , or cause enough to switch parishes. Agreeing with Basil here, that we should stand by the clergy as they attempt to return things to normal, and not fall into the heresy of Donatism. Truly, the best is the enemy of the good.
[Editor Note: Dan, I was unable to locate the letter on the OCA website and I don’t inadvertently want to start a discussion on the blog about someone else until we can see what you’re talking about. Would you please post the link? Note: If someone was copied on a document it means only that they have a copy of it not that they stand by it or “put a hand to that text.” An explanation of why you think this is the case would be helpful.]
Sure, it’s on this page, under the Diocese of the South section, from June of last year:
https://www.oca.org/diocesan-directives-resources
The actual address for the pdf is a little messy, hope it works:
https://d50c890e-3c75-49a9-96bb-e3d7d6595e11.filesusr.com/ugd/41320a_36adfe6edcc043caaeb876fc5ddec42b.pdf
The heresy of Donatism is always a danger. We all are susceptible to it. Myself included. It’s best to overlook things in the interests of charity. Humility is always called for regardless of whether we are in the right or not.
The best thing that can be done is hearken back to the time of St Photius the Great, who when he was (scandalously) placed on the patriarchal throne, went out of his way to overlook the sins of the iconoclasts, including bishops, priests, and laity.
As one iconoclast bishop told him “I was born an iconoclast, I never knew anything different”.
Thank you Dan and thank you MoT for your encouragement. I think my original question has been answered. Yes, in fact, this is the diocese that had some harsh words for their people who….gasp…simply wanted to attend Church last year. Lord Have Mercy.
My larger point is that it leads me to be very skeptical of the new Bishop as I naturally wonder what role he played in all of this.
Speaking for myself, myself, Alan, I’m tickled pink that Abbot Gerasim was elected to the episcopate.
Do they plan on splitting up the DoS? I’m confused what Bishop-elect Gerasim will be presiding over. It would make sense since the DoS is massive, and TX makes up a large number of parishes.
But, like you, I am very excited about Abbot Gerasim as well. He’s a great man and played a big part in my conversion to Orthodoxy.
He’s a vicar bishop, like Metropolitan Jonah (same see, too) before his election to the white hat. His role is to assist the Archbishop in running the diocese by carrying out episcopal visits to parishes and day-to-day administration. If it weren’t for vicar bishops, many smaller parishes would only have a bishop visit every couple of years.
Well said. If anything, we need more vicar bishops. And ultimately, more dioceses.
None. You can believe me or not.
Scroll to Diocese of the South
June 5th 2020
https://www.oca.org/diocesan-directives-resources
Another letter can be found there as well.
May 5th, 2020
Is this the letter you’re referring to?
I would agree. Abbot Gerasim wrote this.
https://d50c890e-3c75-49a9-96bb-e3d7d6595e11.filesusr.com/ugd/41320a_347b0d64216240bf83ae858172cc929d.pdf
The letter from Fr. Gerasim is pretty reasonable and well-balanced.
I don’t think that he had any input in the … letter shared by Abp. Alexander. The tone and approach are so very different.
No, the March 31st, 2020 letter is definitely not scathing.
This is not the letter I was referring to….I can’t find that letter..I’ll try searching my files again. My husband remembers the letter being referred to earlier…That was a decent and kind letter you posted above – definitely not the letter being referred to earlier.
Mom of Toddler,
You may be referring to the letter that closed with this paragraph below, which was interpreted in some cases as “our parish is closed, but if you go somewhere else you are not welcome back”. At least in our case that was the message given to us.
“In addition, it is imperative that you instruct your parishioners NOT to go from parish to parish. This seriously compromises the well-being of your community because there are a number of parishes that breed naysayers, that will have no or little regard for observing preventive measures during this pandemic, and will use their disregard as a banner of “true-Orthodoxy.” They will say that intend to go wherever they can to receive Holy Communion as often as possible, as stated in the Bill of Rights. Perhaps I am exaggerating, but not by much. You do not want such people, in flagrant disregard of the instructions of your Archbishop, worshipping together with your flock.”
In retrospect, many of us made mistakes. The biggest mistake was not being as critical of the information as we could have been. Having said that, you cannot protect yourself from those in governmental authority who misled us (whether intentionally or not). One good thing about last year is that the abject and total loss of credibility in our secular institutions.
In this light, the bishops were “right” to question those who “church hop”, especially if in doing so, one can serve as a vector for the disease.
In the final analysis, we should have questioned more and obeyed the government less. Especially when it became obvious some time in May of last year that its mortality rate was 0.26%. I’m not going to say that the coronavirus was a “hoax” but I’m not going to say that it was the Black Death 2.0.
The quicker we repent, forgive each other and put this whole fiasco behind us, the better. I take the approaches of Ss Augustine and Photius, the former who healed the Donatist heresy and the latter who healed the Iconoclast one.
They seem to have gotten rid of record of the letter which is a good sign I suppose. They have everything else up still, even the stuff about Orthodox Ethos, so maybe as you suggested there was an issue with who actually wrote the letter.
Let me preface this by saying I have great respect and fondness for Fr Gerasim. The last time I was able to travel I was in Dallas and spent an hour with him privately, he prayed for me and provided much needed spiritual guidance.
The letter he sent on May 1, 2020 was however beyond disappointing and was in part a reason for us leaving the OCA. This was written shortly after Pascha, when our DoS parish refused to provide communion to our family while a ROCOR church welcomed us while doing the best they could to offer safety measures.
This closing paragraph was paraphrased to me by our OCA priest who essentially said that if we attended a ROCOR parish, to not let the door hit us on the way out.
“…. In addition, it is imperative that you instruct your parishioners NOT to go from parish to parish. This seriously compromises the well-being of your community because there are a number of parishes that breed naysayers, that will have no or little regard for observing preventive measures during this pandemic, and will use their disregard as a banner of “true-Orthodoxy.” They will say that intend to go wherever they can to receive Holy Communion as often as possible, as stated in the Bill of Rights. Perhaps I am exaggerating, but not by much. You do not want such people, in flagrant disregard of the instructions of your Archbishop, worshipping together with your flock.
We want every parish in our Diocese of the South to be a safe place to worship as Orthodox Christians. The priests have the responsibility to see that this is the case.
In Christ,
Archimandrite Gerasim
Administrator of the Diocese of the South”
I’m with Gerasim.
PS: The only parish I visited during the pandemic that wiped spoons was the ROCOR Cathedral. Make of that what you will.
No, the letter I was referring to was from June 5th. This one looks like it’s from the very beginning of the pandemic, when it was still largely contained to the Northeast.
Thanks to those of you who (Dan, Mom of Toddler, Just a Dad) who found THE letter. This is what I know about it:
It shocked me, too, when I read it as it is definitely inconsistent with what I know about Abbot Gerasim. If it was penned by Abbot Gerasim (sources tell me it was NOT), it is a “one-off.” It doesn’t even make sense, particularly in the context of the South where most people don’t have options.
I can see, however, a scenario where a meddlesome priest with a propensity for gossip, might run to his bishop and tell him people are leaving his parish to exercise their “civil rights.” A savvy bishop wouldn’t give it much thought, because they know all about the “Harriet Oleson” type.
People don’t change jurisdictions to exercise their “civil rights.” People leave their parish when they don’t like their priest.
Now THAT’S something a bishop should pay attention to.
Also, it’s been my experience that some people leave because there have been factions and the falling out that result from them. Or family squabbles.
You really want to see the strains then see what happens with a new bldg project. (Or to make slight changes to the menu at the annual food-fest. Oh boy.)
As a side note , Archbishop Alexander is/was critical of Fr. Peter Heer’s, I’m trying not to judge but that gives me an idea of the mindset of the Archbishop
Fr. Peter Heers is good, but he’s not the arbiter of Orthodoxy.
I think he went a bit too far in pushing the whole “you can’t get germs inside the church” thing.
The emphasis was that you cannot get sick from “The Church” – kissing icons, kissing the hand of the priest, taking communion, etc – all of the things that make Church “Church” and that the church is a sanctified place where we can trust God to protect us according to His will, and that we shouldn’t wear masks in church, especially never in the altar.
I’m in ROCOR, which most would say is not a “modernist” (however you want to define that) jurisdiction. I have celiac disease, and cannot commune the Body; only a drop of the Blood from the chalice. I tried to commune like everyone else shortly after being baptized, and was not able to. I had a severe reaction, not just once but twice.
The Church is the Body of Christ, and the Eucharist is truly Christ’s Body and Blood. But just as the Church is divine, she is also human. Just as there is the Body and the Blood, there is bread and wine. Just as we have the Spirit, we have flesh and blood, and bacteria, and intestines, and mortality. The Temple is a holy place, but it is a place. Icons are holy and sanctified, but someone used wood and paint to make them. There is metaphysics..but there’s also physics. I think people can (and often do) go too extreme in either direction, alienating people (who recall their own lived experience) as they do.
Now that letter I did keep a record of…published by the Arcbishop and written by an anonymous priest: “Recently a priest whose canonical status is not easily discerned has posted videos trying to provoke schism and disobedience to the bishops’ directives in the wake of the pandemic. In one of the recent videos he interviews a so-called “Elder” who repeatedly calls the pandemic a conspiracy of the Zionists, Kabbalists, and Masons, and cites highly suspect Internet stories as evidence. Misquoting the Scriptures and the Fathers, he encourages people to disobey their bishops because, he says, the bishops are acting uncanonically (and then proceeds to quote a canon completely out of context in support of his false opinion).
It really should not even be necessary to respond to this sort of silliness, as it might appear to give it more credence than is due. However, sadly, conversations with far too many priests in the past days have revealed that some of their parishioners are watching these videos, reading these blogs, and taking as Orthodox teaching and Tradition these delusional opinions. So, out of concern for those who might fall into this snare, I share the following…”
I think many would agree without naming names, it was alluding to Fr. Peter Heers. In reality, Fr. Peter Heers is one of the only priests fighting for the true Orthodox faith and he apparently had to leave the United States in order to do so.
Gail, I understand the place where you are coming from in not wanting to accept Abbot Gerasim’s authorship, or to treat it as a “one off”. At the same time, I feel he may not want/require this kind of defense. What was written was straightforward, black on white, and done with authority. I don’t understand how or why a document of someone else’s authorship would be passed off as being his, and him choosing to not correct the record for close to a year. The only way I can see this, is if he agrees with the content and intent of the letter anyway. I respect Abbot Gerasim enough to think that if someone were playing him like a puppet he would get up and leave.
Anyhow, here’s hoping this pandemic is truly in the rear view mirror, for the country and for the church.
I didn’t want to have others bring it up without some context. Context. Context is everything.
I personally want all of 2020 in the rear-view mirror. This plademic has been horrible, when it didn’t need to be.
Thank you very much for your encouraging reply MoT.
In my opinion the letter sent in May was scathing. Though I do wish him the best. May God help him! “… In addition, it is imperative that you instruct your parishioners NOT to go from parish to parish. This seriously compromises the well-being of your community because there are a number of parishes that breed naysayers, that will have no or little regard for observing preventive measures during this pandemic, and will use their disregard as a banner of “true-Orthodoxy.” They will say that intend to go wherever they can to receive Holy Communion as often as possible, as stated in the Bill of Rights. Perhaps I am exaggerating, but not by much. You do not want such people, in flagrant disregard of the instructions of your Archbishop, worshipping together with your flock….” https://d50c890e-3c75-49a9-96bb-e3d7d6595e11.filesusr.com/ugd/41320a_4e8755fa75814d94b74194b85efe51b1.pdf
Look, pretty much all the bishops in the world screwed up on this one.
I said what I did because Bishop Alexis and now Bishop-Elect Gerasim are men with a great reputation and, most importantly, a very real and serious monastic formation. That’s a whole world better than your well-groomed academic types that spent no time in a monastery.
At least the OCA recognizes that these are the type of men that the Church needs and the people respect, and not time-servers and bureaucrats.
Very much agreed, Basil.
At least the OCA recognizes that these are the type of men that the Church needs and the people respect, and not time-servers and bureaucrats.
May GOARCH receive such wisdom..as it currently stands they are doomed if they continue to import bishops from See’s that haven’t existed in over a millennium
Mom of Toddler,
Re: “… the local OCA-DOS parish here is still wearing masks ..”
There are some parishes in the DoS, well at least one I know for certain, that is still going well beyond masks. So it appears to be a discretion-of-the-priest thing more than diocesan guidance.
@MomofToddler not at our parish in NoTx.
Agreed. I have a couple of personal connections to Bishop Alexis and I have been told he is a very holy and pious man. Great news for Alaska
Axios to Abbot Gerasim!
A question, however: Isn’t this the same Abbot Gerasim who was passed over by the Holy Synod about 5 years ago for election to the exact same See, the OCA Diocese of the South? The same Abbot who was formed by the blessed Fr Seraphim Rose and who was at the venerable monastery in Platina, Calif., for many years?
Vladyka Dmitri of blessed memory reposed in 2009. There has essentially been no resident bishop in the OSA DoS in the Diocese for the past 12 years. Word on the street about a decade ago was that Abbot Gerasim was being considered for the Diocesan Hierarch, but the OCA Synod did not elect him as hierarch several years ago. (Instead, they installed him as one of the clergy at St Seraphim Cathedral in Dallas.)
It’s wonderful news that probably the most vibrant and most growing diocese in the OCA will finally have a resident hierarch again. (The DoS has always been missionary minded — recall that prior to the Diocese of the South’s creation in 1978, the massive American South was referred to by the OCA as a vast “missionary district”. In the 1970s, there were only about 5 OCA parishes in the entire American South (one in Dallas, and I believe the others were in Florida).)
The DoS continues to be an amazing American Orthodox Christian mission success story. The American South is one of the few remaining places in America where it is acceptable to publicly love Christ and to talk about Him in public, without feeling a sense of shame from the rest of society when you discuss Him with love.
But what changed? Why is Abbot Gerasim OK for the OCA episcopate now, but he wasn’t OK a few years ago?
Maybe Archbishop Benjamin isn’t up to voting this time around.
I think that Metropolitan Tikhon might be taking things in the same direction that Metropolitan Jonah intended, having seen the consequences of doing otherwise.
Metropolitan Jonah would never say he was looking forward to communing with the GOA.
Metropolitan Jonah was always in communion with the GOA, though…
True, but not now.
Very much agreed, Basil.
If I may add a little different perspective here: in the past, when Jonah was primate of the OCA and Demetrios (a very pious man) was primate of the GOA, both men spoke kindly of each other. And rightfully so.
The present situation is quite different. For one thing, the GOA’s patriarch had not upended the inter-Orthodox situation.
Times change as they say.
Yes, very true. That is Jonah’s true gift – to unify not divide.
ROCOR was the true winner from Met. Jonah’s departure (ousting?) from the OCA. Maybe the OCA can redeem itself through Bishop Alexis and Bishop-elect Gerasim
Absolutely true on Metropolitan Jonah. I do not think there is any other current Orthodox hierarch in America who is as effective at connecting with Americans where they are — and bringing Christ and His Church to them on a level that they “get” — than Metropolitan Jonah.
Being an American himself (heck, he’s from San Diego!), Met. Jonah fully understands modern American culture, knows where we’ve been and where we’re going. He knows that some arguments that work in the “old country” don’t work here. (For example, he knows that, on a knee-jerk level, talking about women’s ordination is extraordinarily difficult in America, since what most secular American women hear when they are told that the Church does not believe (and has never taught that) women’s ministry lies in the ordained presbyterate or in the episcopate — what they hear is “the Church hates women.”
It’s these unfortunate reflexive American cultural nuances that Met. Jonah understands, and he knows how to speak to people who are formed in our culture.
Many other Orthodox hierarchs in America (Abp Elpi comes to mind) don’t understand American culture and don’t care to learn about it, which is antithetical to being an Orthodox hierarch here. St Herman of Alaska loved the Alaskan native population like his children. He did not look down on them because they were “unfortunately not Russians.” How many Orthodox hierarchs in American have looked down on garden-variety Americans because we are not Russian, Greek, Serbian, Lebanese, etc.? It’s a bias that must be fought and conquered in order for the Church to thrive here.
I would add HG Bishop Basil Essey of Wichita. Along with the late Arb Dmitri Royster of Dallas, the best missiologist in North America since Ss Alexis Toth, Herman and Raphael Hawaweeny.
Since we seem to be nominating candidates to an Orthodox hierarchal hall of fame, I would add His Eminence Metropolitan Maximos (Aghiourgoussis) of blessed memory.
My professor of Orthodox dogmatic theology at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, “Bishop Max,” as he was often known and addressed, became bishop and then metropolitan of the GOA Diocese of Pittsburgh in 1978. His love for and ministry to youth, especially college students and Orthodox Christian Fellowships on campuses, was unequaled.
His ecclesiology may have been a wee bit too ecumenical, but his personal spiritual qualities–to which anyone on this blog who knew him probably also can attest–were the finest I have ever experienced. My Matushka and I were always blessed just to be in his presence or to hear his voice on the telephone. And he baptized my second daughter, Beverly, in Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church in Mt. Lebanon, PA, in 1981, while Protopresbyter John Chakos was Proistamenos. a legendary priest and pastor in his own right.
Well said. Although I never knew the man, I’ve heard nothing but good things about him.
What direction is that?
A positive one. More properly-formed bishops from a serious monastic background, an Orthodoxy which is properly American but with strong ties to the traditions of the old country. Metropolitan Jonah was very much plugged into the Russian tradition, while Bishop Alexis has his Greek/Athonite connections and Bishop-Elect Gerasim has his own variety of connections with the old traditions through Platina and other places. They’ll be stronger for it.
That’s really good to hear and I agree with you, the more bishops like this the better. Hopefully the other jurisdictions, namely the Antiochians, can get on board. I only single out the Antiochians since they by-and-large don’t have an American monastic presence
To his credit, Met. Joseph wants to transform Antiochian Village into a serious monastic presence. (Perhaps because everyone who wants to be a monk/nun has to go to another jurisdiction to do so.) He had a good presentation about this at the Parish Life Conference a couple of years ago.
But it takes more than a desire to accomplish it. Benefactors need to open their wallets, which means the archdiocese as a whole needs to be catechized about the importance of monasticism. It will be a long term project.
Perhaps it wasn’t his time then,
but it is now…?
The change is in the membership of the Holy Synod, not in the bishop-elect. A somewhat recently reposed Archbishop was utterly opposed to anyone or anything having to do with Platina Monastery or it’s two founding Fathers. Truth be told: the unfortunate & difficult circumstances at Platina would have been a far bigger & uglier mess without Fr Gerasim stepping up to salvage what could be saved from the heritage of St John of Shanghai & SFO and Bishop Nectary. What fortuitous training for future leadership! Axios indeed.
David,
Thanks for the insight. Reading Fr Seraphim Rose’s biography led me to St John of Shanghai and S.F., whose intercessions have transformed my life. I will be forever indebted and grateful to the Platina monks and monastery. I pray to be able to visit it someday.
Is the Platina monastery still under the Serbian Diocese of Western America?
Axios!
Bishop-elect Gerasim was the first priest I spoke with when I was in the process of converting to Orthodoxy. I ran into him by happenstance when I went to the cathedral in Dallas, ironically enough he had just returned from a trip to my small hometown.
Fr. Gerasim was kind enough to take me into the church and answer the questions that I had and he gave me very kind and wise advice. I also asked for the intercession of Archbishop Dimitri at his tomb in the chapel (which as someone who was still technically Roman catholic I was iffy about), guess the intercession worked cause here I am!
Many years to Bishop-elect Gerasim!
No, the March 21st, 2020 letter is definitely not scathing.
BTW, Bishop-elect Gerasim’s consecration is scheduled for Jun 29th. (The preliminary rites will take place the evening before.)
Happy Father’s Day to all fathers out there:
https://youtu.be/nCPGFThMmHU