5 January 2013. Three Revealing Outtakes from Tikhon Shevkunov’s Latest “Interview”

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The entire bogus “interview” is here. It’s all softball fluff. Here’s the first relevant snippet for us:

The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) right now isn’t experiencing its best times, and we pray for our brothers with our whole hearts and hope that they can quickly get through this crisis. The word “crisis” here is no exaggeration. That’s how they themselves recognise their current situation.

Note well how he refuses to commit himself to anything overly-positive about the OCA. This statement came after Shevkunov’s hush-hush pow-wow with Potapov and Fathausen in the District. It’s clear that Shevkunov tried to fast-track Fathausen’s reception into the ROCOR at the Centre (for the Centre signs off on all major ROCOR decisions), and hit a brick wall. The word on the street at the Centre is that “Moscow is considering the application of Paffhausen to be admitted to the ROCOR”, and it’s by no means a done deal. To compound matters, nothing of substance will be done at the Centre until the end of the New Year holiday on 10 January. Since Shevkunov failed in his first attempt to place his buddy Fathausen in the ROCOR, he’s distancing himself from the whole situation. Remember, his English language skills aren’t the best and he’s reliant on crank intel from Jordanville and SVS. What’s worse, he’s part of that crook oligarch/zapadnik crowd at the Vanil Restoran that includes Marat Gelman and Ksenia Sobchak (the good word has it that Shevkunov introduced Dickie Wood to this misbegotten set).

The second part concerns his new book, Несвятые святые, which was mistranslated into English as Everyday Saints. The first thing that any translator notices is that the title contains a paradox; the translation should preserve that paradox and preserve the seeming contradiction. The second thing that one notices is that “everyday” is by no means implied in the first word in Russian, which is the blunt “unholy”. The only way to express the original paradoxical title in English is Unholy Holiness. In Russian, “holy” and “saint” use the same word (I’m well aware that “holiness” per se is святость), so, Unholy Holiness is the only way to preserve the tension of the original title. Everyday Saints is an incompetent, botched, and illiterate rendering of the Russian, ergo, I must come to the sad conclusion that it’s a botched translation throughout and that you should only read the book in the original Russian.

Shevkunov crowed that he baptised the translator of the book ONE DAY after he asked for baptism. That’s abominable… here’s a book about Orthodox holiness, and Shevkunov entrusted it to a heterodox translator… no wonder the title was fucked up. It was done by an arrogant convert with no inner knowledge of Orthodoxy. Therefore, one must conclude that the book is riddled with errors of emphasis and distorts Orthodox piety and religiosity (as the translator had no inside knowledge… he’s nothing but the most perfunctory shake n’ bake convert).

Lastly, Shevkunov hands out crank information about religion in the USA. To begin with, he doesn’t know the topic, except for what interested parties like Potapov and Fathausen tell him. Certainly, he’s not spent much time here, and his facility in the American dialect of English (or any form of English) is rather poor. It’s crank from top to bottom… five million Orthodox in the USA… in your dreams (the actual amount is about one million all told)! 43 percent of Americans aren’t in church on a given Sunday. 25 percent of the American population is Catholic, and most figures indicate that 16 percent (at best) are at mass on a given Sunday. That’s 4 percent of the American population… so, to make 43 percent, one would have to get over half of the remaining population in church (39/75)… that simply isn’t so. The NCC estimates that about 50 percent of the American population belongs to a religious community… and, to speak bluntly, the participation rate isn’t 86 percent on a given Sunday. Shevkunov spouts pure bullshit here… and it shows him to be shallow, easily manipulated, and vapid. One doesn’t know why he said what he said. It shows him in the worst of all possible lights. Perhaps, a friend of mine at the Centre is correct, “You Americans were dazzled by The Byzantine Lesson. We saw him hanging out with Ksenia Sobchak and Prokhorov”.

Note this… Tikhon Shevkunov is 55, and he hasn’t been considered for the episcopate, even though men in their thirties are being elevated. I think that the Centre’s telling us something by that. It’s sad… some of his stuff in Russian is real nifty and to the point. Well, it’s not the first time that I’ve found out that someone wasn’t what they appeared to be. Everyday Holiness… what a maroon!

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Saturday 5 January 2013

Albany NY      

29 November 2012. It DOES Take All Kinds… Here’s What to Do About the Loudmouth Konvertsy…

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Every so often, one or another of the Cabinet tells me about the latest shenanigans of Monomakhos or Dreher or Freddie M-G… Look at the above image, kids… that’s what they are. They’re LOUD… they’re PUSHY… they’re righteously and completely “full of it”. Don’t ever argue with such sorts… it’s an utter waste of God-given time. They’re “right”, dontcha know… and they’re not going to change their minds. They wouldn’t listen if God Himself were to come down from Heaven (they’d be like the rich people in the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man). So, it’s no surprise that they don’t listen to sinners such as you and me. They actually believe that Orthodoxy has a “step-by-step spiritual plan to achieve theosis“. I’m not joking… one of the jabronies really wrote that one. Barmy, ain’t it?

Remember the original title of the book by Tikhon Shevkunov… “Unholy Holiness”. Holiness is something wild… I don’t mean abandoned… I don’t mean wanton… it’s “wild”… it’s untamed, it’s not “domesticated”. If you see someone preaching that holiness is a matter of reading and study, avoid them, especially if they’re clergy (this is what virtually all the konvertsy spout, unfortunately). The Holy can only be apprehended in life… we must wrestle with it as Jacob did. Otherwise, we’re loud squawking ostriches with our head in the sand (I did choose the above image with malice aforethought).

However, don’t argue with them and don’t get involved in their pinheaded disputes. You have better things to do…

BMD

Wyomissing Graduate Elected Leader of OCA

Wyomissing PA has about 10,000 people, an above-average income level, and it’s considered chi-chi by Money magazine… that is, Mollard didn’t have any “bumps in the road” in his early years…

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A Wyomissing High School graduate was elected leader of the OCA during a meeting Tuesday of more than 600 clergy members and delegates in Ohio. Metropolitan Tikhon (born Marc Mollard) replaces Metropolitan Jonah Paffhausen, who submitted his resignation in July. Metropolitan Tikhon, 46, formerly served as Archbishop of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania. Metropolitan Tikhon said in a telephone interview Friday, “I pray I can fulfil my responsibilities with the help of the bishops, clergy, and the faithful”.

The Rev John Onofrey, pastor of St. Herman of Alaska Church in Shillington PA, was among the priests who cast votes Tuesday during the 17th All-American Council of the OCA at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Parma OH. Onofrey, who knows Metropolitan Tikhon through his visits to the church in Shillington and considers him an excellent person, said, “It’s a new chapter” for the Orthodox Church. However, Onofrey said he was surprised by the outcome because another candidate, Bishop Michael Dahulich of New York and New Jersey, received more votes in the second round of voting. In the second round, Bishop Michael received 355 votes and Archbishop Tikhon got 317. Onofrey said he cast one vote for Bishop Michael and one vote for Archbishop Tikhon in the two rounds of voting. However, since a two-thirds vote is required and neither candidate received that, a group of bishops who are members of the Holy Synod retired behind the altar and elected Metropolitan Tikhon. When asked why he thinks Metropolitan Tikhon was chosen, Onofrey speculated it was because he’s a very spiritual man, saying, “He’s well-liked”.

The OCA’s been in a state of transition since the July resignation of Metropolitan Jonah, who had been elected in 2008 under a banner of reform after his predecessor, Archbishop Herman Swaiko, retired amid allegations that leaders of the denomination used money from church coffers to cover personal expenses. In July, Metropolitan Jonah said he was leaving the post in response to the unanimous request of the bishops. Metropolitan Tikhon said he hopes his election helps put an end to uncertainty in the church, saying on Friday, “My prayer is that we’ll come smoothly out of this transition and come together for the work of the church”. The metropolitan will move from his home near St Tikhon’s Seminary in South Caanan PA, Wayne County, to Long Island NY, where the OCA has its headquarters.

The OCA has approximately 700 parishes, communities, and monasteries throughout the USA, Canada, and Mexico. Estimates vary, but there are about 85,000 members in the USA, according to the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas. On 27 January 2013, there’ll be a formal enthronement for the new metropolitan at St Nicholas Cathedral in Washington DC. Many ecumenical guests and dignitaries will be invited. Amongst the guests will be the Rev Elizabeth Mollard of Elizabethtown PA, Lancaster County, a retired Episcopal priest, and the mother of Metropolitan Tikhon.

Mollard wasn’t present at the meeting on Tuesday and had no idea her son would be elected, saying on Friday, “We’re very proud of our son. We know it’s a big responsibility”. She last saw her son in August, when he was in the area while visiting some OCA congregations in the Harrisburg area. She expressed concern about the major changes he’ll undergo in a position of such responsibility, but said she’s hopeful it will be a good experience for him. She said of her son, “He has wonderful pastoral skills”.

When asked if his friends from Wyomissing High School’s Class of 1984 would’ve considered him a spiritual person, Metropolitan Tikhon said they probably didn’t have that impression. He said, “I was more of a questioner, I wasn’t overtly religious, although I did go to church regularly”.

17 November 2012

Carol Balinski

Reading (PA) Eagle

http://readingeagle.com/mobile/article.aspx?id=428690

Editor’s Note:

This is why it’s going to take at least two years for the OCA to crash and burn. As one of the Cabinet put it:

With someone as weak as that, a puppet of Kishkovsky, the end of the OCA is even nearer.

Mollard has a “nice” exterior. I say, look at what a person does… Mollard’s not getting rid of Tosi or Lyonyo or Jillions… he’s not abolishing the Diocese of Washington (a rotten borough if there ever was such). Also, look at history… Herman Swaiko pushed Mollard forward, far too quickly for Mollard’s good. Like all too many konvertsy, Mollard went to seminary too early, and Herman made him a “professor” far too quickly… long before he was truly ready for such responsibility. In many ways, he’s like Tikhon Shevkunov… he’s never had any “bumps in the road”, which means that he’s immature and unready as a leader. Tikhon Mollard lacks grit, good-sense, and fortitude… that’s why the OCA’s going to crash and burn.

One reason that Mollard fools many is that he’s from Berks County, which is near Schuykill County and Lehigh County, which means that he’s “fluent” in the Valley‘s folkways. That is, he’s not as “threatening” as JP was… who was an unrepentant godless California New Age nutter. He’s a “local boy”… maybe not po-nashemu, but from the nabe. This unarmed many people, I’m sure. Like the Blunder, he has “gee shucks” mannerisms, but since he’s from the sticks, it doesn’t seem so phony in his case. I’d say this… “Mollard would’ve been disqualified from standing as a candidate for First Hierarch in any legit Local Church due to his immaturity (he’s below 50)”… we should note that Paffhausen was equally unqualified… the OCA has chosen a crank candidate two times in a row.

There’s much more to leadership than having a pleasant and unctuous exterior… we’ll find that out in the coming months to our detriment. However, he’s going to have a honeymoon until he serves with his sugar-daddy Herman at the next Pilgrimage… after that, it’s anyone’s guess…

BMD

31 October 2012. You Can’t Make Shit Like This Up. Get Thee to a Monastery… There’s a Brothel There

Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov (1958- ), the Superior of the Sretensky Monastery in Moscow. On the one hand, he’s an excellent spiritual writer… on the other, he’s a lickspittle to the oligarchs, and many think him pro-Western. He’s an enigma… “Is he a white horse with black stripes, or, is he a black horse with white stripes?” (as Churchill famously asked about Franco)

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The Russian Orthodox Church is furiously trying to calm a media storm after police uncovered a brothel on the grounds of one of Moscow’s most prestigious monasteries. The “hotel for lovers” was operating out of a building belonging to the Sretensky Monastery, an ancient institution just up the road from the headquarters of the Federal Security Service. Police arrested two women, from the Ukraine and Tajikistan, during a raid at the weekend. The institution’s seedy reputation was apparently well known. Local media reported that it rented out its seven rooms by the hour, at rates starting from 1,750 Roubles (56 USD. 43 Euros. 35 UK Pounds).

Founded in 1395, the monastery is one of the city’s oldest religious institutions. Legend has it that it was founded on the spot where Muscovites met a miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary brought from the neighbouring city of Vladimir to save Moscow from Tamerlane‘s marauding armies. Many say that the monastery’s Superior, Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov, is President Vladimir Putin‘s personal spiritual adviser. Fr Tikhon hit back at what he called a “media sensation” surrounding the brothel, telling a state-owned channel that the “lovers’ hotel” was in a building the monastery acquired only recently, and that evicting the current business occupying the premises was one of the conditions of the sale. He even joked that the church was “lucky” the issue had finally been dealt with, saying, “Today’s storm in the media is just one example of how people are willing to take any slander and not only make a vulgar joke out of it, but launch a very real information attack against the Church”.

31 October 2012

The Independent

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/get-thee-to-a-monastery-theres-a-brothel-there-8262255.html

Editor’s Note:

I asked for some confirmation from Moscow sources. The buzz is that Tikhon’s pissed off certain factions with his too-close relationship with the oligarch set (Marat Gelman and Prokhorov were mentioned), some even called it a set-up that Tikhon wasn’t street-smart enough to detect. Other voices on the grapevine think that it’s an intra-Church feud (one mentioned the Kapalin brothers). There’s no uniform intel, so, it’s a case of “you pays your money and you takes your choice”. My choice is “it’s too muddled to tell”… I think that I have plenty of company in thinking that…

BMD