28 August 2014. Some OCA Whispers in the Loggia

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Well, kids, there’s buzz that Maymon wants to sell the Diocese of E PA digs in South Canaan and move to Philly. He can’t stand living in rural PA. Poor baby! It was good enough for Bishop Kip! It was good enough for Herman… it shows good sense, it’s cheaper to live up there, and it’s in the midst of the people. Perhaps, that’s why the Anglo bastard wants to leave… it’s in the midst of people that he holds in contempt. He was nothing but trouble for the Antiochians and he’s turning out to be nothing but a pain in the ass for the OCA. A local told me:

Can you see those coal-crackers like Kowalski driving to Philly every week?!

NO WAY! NO HOW! Any road, NEPA is the cradle of our Church. It’s full of WONDERFUL folks. Maymon is an ungrateful and self-centred bastard… NEPA is a special place… full of special people. Hell, I wouldn’t mind retiring there myself. Where was the Metropolia’s first Sobor? Mayfield! This Anglo SOB doesn’t know that in his bones and he doesn’t care. He should stop this immediately and issue an apology to his people. Every time that I think that the Anglos have grown some sense, shit like this happens. It’s why they’re hated by many ethnic folks… they’re “oh so much more better” than we are, and they let us know it in so many ways. For Maymon to leave NEPA is spitting on our heritage. We came out of the mines and mills, not the country club! He deserves a Cossack horsewhipping for this.

On a lighter note, Dickie Wood surfaced on Facebook in civvies. That doesn’t mean anything of itself… many priests do that in their “off hours” (like the late Metropolitan Nicholas Smiško going off to the International to have a friendly brewsky or two). However, it’s set tongues wagging, and I’ve heard it from several… it doesn’t mean anything of itself… but do keep your eyes n’ ears peeled.

BMD

 

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16 November 2013. Nikolai Soraich Pops Up in Lost Wages ROCOR Mission

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One of the Cabineteers sent me this (for more images, click here). Firstly, Nikolai Soraich popped up in Las Vegas NV. That’s no surprise, as he founded a parish there many moons ago. However, he surfaced in a ROCOR mission, not in an OCA facility. There’s no evidence, so, there’s nothing to hang a conclusion on to, that is, one doesn’t know if there’s still bad blood between the OCA and Nikolai (although Tikhon Fitz is still one of Nikolai’s vociferous backers… no surprise, as Nikolai was his Chancellor and protégé). I did some research; Nikolai is NOT on the ROCOR hierarchs’ page. Interesting, that… he’s also NOT in the ROCOR clergy directory. One of the Cabinet wrote me:

He’s still a “retired” OCA bishop, with permission to serve (not sure if there are any restrictions from the OCA), and ROCOR let him serve in LA. Now, ROCOR set up this new mission, and since he lives in LV, it gives him a chance to “play church”.

As for the “retired bishop” shtick, here’s what I wrote in a note to another post:

The fact that Nikon Mironov is a “retired bishop” indicates that such a status is fully-canonical, and that those who question such a status aren’t in the mainstream of the Church. For instance, Nikolai Soraich is a “bishop”, so is Jerome Shaw, but neither are “ruling bishops” or “vicar bishops”, they’re “retired bishops”… kapish? They CAN serve as clergy, but they have NO authority (they CAN wear a mitre, but one doesn’t serve hierarchical liturgy when they’re present). To make a “grey” situation even “greyer”, in 2013, Nikon was made a vicar bishop of the Diocese of Perm, thus “unretiring” him (the MP HS said that he might become a ruling bishop again if he was a good boy)… confusing, but that’s Orthodoxy for ya! If you want consistency, join the papists…

One wonders if his “boy” Innocent Brittain serves there, as well? Hmm… one of the Cabinet said, “I was told that three of the ROCOR bishops are that way”… I wasn’t able to get any corroboration (actually, I got different “names” from this-and-that source, making it all gobbledygook… its a “you pays your money and you takes your choice” situation), but taking Nikolai’s past into account (remember, Feodosy Lazor, Dmitri Royster, and Herman Swaiko were amongst his consecrators in 2001)… don’t be fooled, we STILL have an overflowing cesspit to drain here in the diaspora (both in the OCA AND the ROCOR). It’s just “All Quiet on the Syosset Front” for now…

BMD 

12 October 2013. All Quiet on the Syosset Front… For Now

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Lately, there’s been a dearth of “news stories” coming out of the OCA. Trust me, that’s a GOOD thing. It means that the shit isn’t hitting the fan and that people aren’t worried about their heads. I asked a friend at the Centre for their opinion, and they said:

His Holiness made it clear where he stood when he received the OCA delegation recently. You don’t have to agree or like someone or something in order to support them or it. Mollard’s bringing peace to the OCA and stopping the ferment. That covers all his sins.

I pressed them for clarification, and all that I got was, “I said what I said”. From the time of Herman Swaiko’s installation in 2002 to Jonas Paffhausen’s resignation in 2012, the OCA has been in constant turmoil. Mollard, at least, won’t roil the waters. However, that doesn’t mean that there’s going to be sweetness and light. Mind you, there’s NOT going to be scandal erupting around Mollard… remember, Herman got in the shit because he moved against Lyonyo’s party aggressively and JP got in trouble for his political shenanigans. Mollard’s not going to intrigue against anybody and he’s not going to embroil himself in politics.

However, there’s going to be a tussle over who’s going to be the Éminence grise wielding the power in Mollard’s name. At present, there’s a vacuum at the top, and such voids DO tend to be filled (and rather smartly at that). There are two contenders out there. It’s going to be a no-holds barred pankration between Lyonyo Kishkovsky and Michael Dahulich. At present, things are quiet, as these two worthies are gathering their supporters and feeling out the opposition (neither one is as stubborn as Herman was or as fecklessly stupid as JP was). Lyonyo’s gathering followers from First Family circles (he’s behind Dickie Wood’s appearance at Gan’s shindig, mark my word on that one), whilst Dahulich is putting together a claque based on SVS, his former students amongst the clergy, and the konvertsy. In cliché terms, “It’s the calm before the storm”. Yet, it won’t be as bad as the situations that revolved around Herman and Fatso. It’ll be a behind-the-scenes affair, with no input from Mollard, who’ll continue to smile away benignly at all concerned. It’ll be bloody, but it won’t be centre-stage, and most people, to speak frankly, will ignore it. I’ll hazard a guess. I think that Lyonyo’s gonna win in the end. Dahulich will undercut himself by his support of loony liturgical fiddling. People will go with the party that’ll keep “hands-off” their parish life and liturgy… Dahulich’s liturgical itch will do him in, when one totes it all up. Do bear in mind that Dahulich tried to seize the white hat by using the above coalition… it failed then; all things being equal, it’ll fail in future, too.

Nevertheless, none of the above will roil the surface. Most parishes will be left alone… which is what they want. Outward peace will reign, which means no “news”, and I think that a GOOD thing, as I said at the outset. The OCA will “rot in peace”; we simply have to show some patience… after all, they’re doing that at the Centre. They do take the LOOONG view there, kids…

BMD

 

13 June 2013. Is JP Starting a “New” Monastery? … REAL Orthodox “Race Relations”… And More…

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One of the Cabinet whispered:

Scuttlebutt has it that JP’s going to start a new monastery. I did hear that Patriarch Kirill told ROCOR NOT to take JP.

Remember how Potapov and Paffhausen were yelping that the Centre was going to take in JP, just you wait n’ see? Well, HH gave that one an old-school NYET. NO WAY… NO HOW. If JP’s starting a “new monastery”, where’s the money coming from? The OCA doesn’t have it… Valerie Ringa sez so. ROCOR is as flat-busted broke as the OCA is… Jordanville has fallen to rack and ruin. The Centre ain’t ponying up any cash for the OCA. In fact, Mollard’s trying to get clergy to go with him on his pending ad limina trip to Moscow (all OCA Metropolitans have to go to the Centre to get its nod… the OCA is autocephalous in name only, as everyone knows), but he doesn’t have the gelt to pay their fare and HH isn’t forwarding any either. Ergo, a “new monastery?” Well… he’ll have to pull several rabbits out of the ol’ tired hat… and I don’t think it possible. I’ll lay money that he’s gong back to Manton… where he’ll be a royal pain-in-the-arse to all concerned. We haven’t seen or heard the last of him… he’s got some nastiness to pull before he goes…

Another person wrote:

Our La-Di-Dah “Orthodoxy is so lucky to have me” converts obnoxiously presume Russians need lessons in race relations. I’ve never seen people more free of racial bias than “real” Russians and Ukrainians… especially, those from the “other side”. That’s a fact.

You want proof? How ‘bout Aleksandr Pushkin? How ‘bout his gran’pa Ivan Gannibal? Of course, I just posted about James Lloydovich Patterson… it’s clear that the Rodina wants him back. Don’t listen to rightwing pukes… Russia has always been a land of many peoples, creeds, and races. We’re a mixed lot… Eurasians, indeed! The konvertsy have nothing to teach us… NOTHING. If we follow what’s best in our Russian heritage, trust me, we don’t need “education” from condescending former-Anglican worthies.

Here’s something about one of the OCA crowd:

Michael J Pasonick Jr, a Wilkes-Barre engineer tied to several public corruption cases, has been fined by the Department of State. Pasonick was one of 156 licensed or commissioned professionals and organisations that the Department of State took disciplinary action against during May, Secretary of the Commonwealth Carol Aichele announced Tuesday. Pasonick was ordered to pay a 1,000 USD (31,960 Roubles. 750 Euros. 640 UK Pounds) civil penalty and to attend and complete at least five hours of remedial education on ethics. He also had a public reprimand placed on his permanent disciplinary record with the board and had his licenses suspended because he was convicted of a criminal offence. He previously pleaded guilty to paying a school board member in Luzerne County between 1,000 and 5,000 USD (31,960 to 159,800 Roubles. 750 to 3,750 Euros. 640 to 3,200 UK Pounds) to win the board member’s support for his efforts to secure school district contracts. During court testimony, Pasonick also said he paid 2,000 USD (63,920 Roubles. 1,500 Euros. 1,280 UK Pounds) to former Lackawanna County Commissioner Robert Cordaro to keep engineering contracts with a sewer authority in the county.

http://m.citizensvoice.com/news/state-fines-pasonick-for-role-in-corruption-cases-1.1503796

Pasonick was tight with Herman and Mollard. He’s trying to get reinstated as a deacon, but one of my contacts at St T’s told me in the car park that that’s going nowhere FAST. Pasonick was one of Bobby’s confrères… and that’s the kiss of death, now.

In short, the usual stew pot is bubblin’ away. God do help us… our “leadership” certainly isn’t…

BMD