6 February 2019. THIS is How Cold It Was on Lake Michigan

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THIS was Lake Michigan in Chicago IL during the recent Polar Vortex cold snap. It was -45 degrees (-48 Fahrenheit) still air, NOT wind chill. I’d be wearing my snuggies, to be sure. The guys would need a fur jockstrap and a full set of longjohns on top of that! I’ve been in Chicago in the winter, it’s brutal as all hell, but this year it was extra special, as the above photo indicates.

BRRR!!

BMD

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Predator Bishop is Back On the Job; Victims Object

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Statement from Cappy Larson, Orthodox Christian Director of SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

For more information:

• Cappy Larson (cappy@rlarson.com, 415 637-2006)
• David Clohessy, SNAP Director (davidgclohessy@gmail.com, 314 566-9790)

“Predator” bishop still on the job

• Deemed guilty by colleagues, he’s now in a parish
• His superiors claim “we haven’t put him to work there”
• But controversial cleric is listed on PA church’s website
• SNAP sends harsh message to hierarchs now meeting in Atlanta
• “Block this dangerous, deceptive and callous move,” group pleads

A Chicago bishop found guilty of sexual misconduct and forced him to retire by his colleagues is now in charge of a western Pennsylvania parish and a support group for victims wants him ousted.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-ousted-orthodox-bishop-parish-priest-met-20150716-story.html

http://www.midwestdiocese.org/files/ARCHPASTORAL%20LETTERS/2013.04.14-Pastoral-Letter-to-Diocese-of-Midwest.pdf

http://www.midwestdiocese.org/files/ARCHPASTORAL%20LETTERS/2012.11.03-Letter-of-Holy-Synod-to-Diocese-of-the-Midwest.pdf

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are writing to bishops of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) about Bishop Matthias Moriak who once headed the Chicago diocese. Moriak was retired by the synod of bishops in April 2013, after he was found to have engaged in sexual misconduct. SNAP wants church officials to oust the bishop from active ministry. Moriak recently began working in a parish in Hermitage PA. The OCA’s chancellor says that another bishop asked Moriak to take the position, but that this assignment had not been approved. He went on to say that the OCA synod would be meeting to consider the terms of Moriak’s retirement.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-ousted-orthodox-bishop-parish-priest-met-20150716-story.html

Members of SNAP have written to the synod pleading with them to put the kibosh on this assignment. All of the bishops are in Atlanta from 20-24 July, at the Hilton Atlanta Hotel, for their national council. The complete text of the letter, sent earlier today by email, can be found below. The parish in western Pennsylvania belongs to the Romanian Episcopate of the OCA. That diocese is led by Archbishop Nathaniel Popp of Michigan (nathaniel@roea.org). Popp is the longest serving hierarch on the OCA synod.

Cappy Larson, the Orthodox Christian Director of SNAP, said, “Even when a clergyman engages in sexual misconduct with an adult, the resulting damage can be serious. In the 16 years I’ve been working with victims, two who were abused as adults were in such pain that they chose to end their own lives”. David Clohessy, the Executive Director of SNAP, added, “While it’s true that the young woman who complained about Bishop Matthias rebuffed him and then reported him, another victim might not be so clearheaded”. Larson concluded, “The OCA synod should have zero tolerance for sexual misconduct, Bishop Matthias doesn’t belong in active ministry”. The OCA had at one time considered returning Moriak to his former position, and SNAP had objected at the time. The victims’ group had assumed the synod had seriously considered the ramifications of such a move when several months later they instead asked for the Chicago bishop’s retirement.

http://www.midwestdiocese.org/files/ARCHPASTORAL%20LETTERS/2012.11.03-Letter-of-Holy-Synod-to-Diocese-of-the-Midwest.pdf

http://www.snapnetwork.org/il_offending_bishop_may_be_returned_to_ministry

http://www.midwestdiocese.org/files/ARCHPASTORAL%20LETTERS/2013.04.14-Pastoral-Letter-to-Diocese-of-Midwest.pdf

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Metropolitan Tikhon Mollard

Orthodox Church in America

PO Box 675

Syosset NY 11791

Email: metropolitan@oca.org

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Archbishop Nathaniel Popp

PO Box 309

Grass Lake MI 49240-0309

Email: nathaniel@roea.org

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Archbishop Nikon Liolin

PO Box 149

Southbridge MA 01550

Email: bpnikon@aol.com

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Archbishop Benjamin Peterson

1520 Green St

San Francisco CA 94123

Email: vikenty@msn.com

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Archbishop Alejo Pacheco-Vera

Av Rio Consulado E Iruapato #53

Col Penon De Los Banos

Mexico DF 15520

Email: obispoalejo@yahoo.com.mx

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Archbishop Melchisedek Pleska

PO Box 1769

Cranberry Township PA 16066-1769

Email: melchisedek999@yahoo.com

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Bishop Mark Maymon

144 St Tikhon’s Road

Waymart PA 18472

Email: vladyka.mark@gmail.com

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Bishop Irénée Rochon

15 LeBreton St. N.

Ottawa ON K1R 7H1

CANADA

Email: bishopirenee@archdiocese.ca

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Bishop Michael Dahulich

33 Hewitt Ave

Bronxville, NY 10708

Email: bishopmichael@nynjoca.org

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Bishop Alexander Golitzin

519 Brynhaven Dr.

Oregon OH 43616

Email: alexander@bdoca.org

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Bishop David Mahaffey

7031 Howard Ave

Anchorage AK 99504-1899

Email: otyetz@hotmail.com

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Bishop Paul Gassios

933 N. La Salle Dr.

Chicago IL 60610-3204

Email: bishoppaul@domoca.org

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Re: Reassigning Bishop Matthias Moriak to Active Ministry

Dear Sirs:

We are members of a victims’ group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. We are writing to you today because we are concerned over the assignment of Bishop Matthias Moriak to the Romanian parish in Hermitage PA. According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, Bishop Nathaniel Popp made this assignment unilaterally, and it has not been approved by the synod as a whole.  The piece goes on to say that you are meeting to consider the terms of Bishop Matthias’ retirement

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-ousted-orthodox-bishop-parish-priest-met-20150716-story.html

The OCA has made great strides in addressing the issue of clergy sexual misconduct, and we beg you, don’t approve this dangerous, deceptive, and callous move. While it’s true that the young woman who complained about Bishop Matthias rebuffed him and then reported him, another victim might not be so clearheaded. The consequences of the sexual abuse of an adult by a trusted clergyman can be absolutely devastating, even deadly. Please, continue your denomination’s progress. Let the OCA have zero tolerance for clergy sexual misconduct. Bishop Matthias does not belong in active ministry.

Sincerely,

Cappy Larson

Orthodox Christian Director of SNAP (cappy@rlarson.com, 415-637-2006)

David Clohessy

Executive Director of SNAP (davidgclohessy@gmail.com, 314-566-9790)

21 July 2015

http://www.snapnetwork.org/pa_predator_bishop_is_back_on_the_job_victims_object

Rebellious Grandstander Reardon Deserves Deposition for Dragging Metropolitan Joseph in the Mud

“ONLY SAYEDNA JOSEPH HAS THE RIGHT TO MAKE POLICY”… one of my Toledo contacts told me that. That’s what is and Reardon just pissed on that in public. This Anglo shit deserves deposition… IMMEDIATELY. Such insubordination is breathtaking. ONLY HIERARCHS HAVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE SUCH POLICY DECISIONS.

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Here’s the epitome of konvertsy hubris. Reardon shouts that he won’t sign marriage licences. I’ll have more to say later. Look at this from the Chicago Tribune:

The Rev Patrick Henry Reardon is getting out of the civil marriage business. The Orthodox Christian priest on Chicago’s North Side says the US Supreme Court ruling that legalises same-sex matrimony reinforces his recent decision to no longer sign licenses that make marriages valid in the eyes of the state and now the nation. That doesn’t mean Reardon won’t do weddings. On the contrary, he gladly will bless the union of a Christian man and woman and perform the sacrament of marriage. However, those couples must go to a courthouse if they want to be legally bound. He says he can no longer in good conscience serve as an agent of the state. Reardon, the pastor of All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Chicago’s Irving Park community, said, “The strange situation in the United States is clergymen not only act in the name of the church, they also act in the name of the state. The clergymen wear two hats. I’m making a political statement in this sense: I’m accusing the state of usurping the role of God. What I’m saying is, ‘I don’t agree with you and I’m going to change the way I do things. I will not act in your name. … I will not render unto Caesar that which belongs to God'”.

The unusual protest inspired other Christian clergy… Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant… to consider following his lead, a shift Reardon hopes will lead the nation to a different model of marriage, one that no longer deputises clergy to sign marriage licenses and, in his opinion, effectively uphold the state’s definition of marriage. In Illinois, couples typically go to the county clerk to apply for a marriage license no more than 60 days before they wed. Whoever officiates at the ceremony signs the license as a witness. The county then records the marriage. The couple also has the option of exchanging vows in front of a judge. That’s the only option now for Reardon’s parishioners if they want to be married in the eyes of the law.

Archbishop Blase Cupich, Chicago’s Roman Catholic leader, said in a recent interview that the idea hasn’t come up among America’s Catholic bishops or Chicago priests, but he pointed out that a “two-tiered type of marriage” already exists in some places, including Europe. Regardless of who signs the license, he added, there’s already a clear distinction between the two in the USA, “Civil marriage doesn’t make people promise and keep the promise of permanence because of the ease of divorce. We ask people to be married until death do you part and we really mean that. … It’s important to recognize we already have a difference between civil marriage and church marriage because of the promises”. Indeed, the government’s view of marriage as a legally binding contract already contradicts the Orthodox Christian understanding of marriage as a sacrament…blessing a union that already existed because God created it. Therein lies the problem, Reardon said, “Government has no authority whatsoever to alter that. Whence a judge, magistrate or a justice of the peace does the ceremony, that’s just a legal act. As a priest I will no longer step in and serve in that function”.

Reardon was born Roman Catholic and converted to the Episcopal faith, embracing Orthodox Christianity in the 1980s when Episcopalians began to change their prayer-book and ordain gay clergy. He chose the Antiochian Orthodox Church because it was particularly open to converts {no, he did not… Reardon lies… he entered via the OCA, and left for Antioch because the OCA (rightfully) wouldn’t ordain him: editor}. In fact, three-fourths of the members of his multiethnic congregation in Irving Park are American-born. That’s not necessarily the case in the roughly two-dozen ethnic Orthodox churches where many parishioners have immigrated to the USA from countries with a particular Orthodox patriarch. However, the theology of marriage is the same in all branches. It’s considered to be much more than a partnership. Rev Johannes Jacobse, president of the American Orthodox Institute {an empty konvertsy Potemkin Village: editor}, said, “We see the sacramental as the completion of the natural,” said Jacobse, also an Antiochian Orthodox priest. “We see marriage as a means of salvation, as a way one achieves salvation. It’s not just a contract or agreement. It certainly is that. But it’s more”.

Clergy on both sides of the same-sex marriage debate support Reardon’s boycott, although based on a slightly different rationale. The Rev Tony Jones, an evangelical author and proponent of same-sex marriage, advocated a separation of religious and civil marriage since 2010. Jones, who teaches at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena CA, said, “This social change happened a lot faster than anybody predicted. When I declared that I’d no longer sign marriage licences and encouraged other clergy to do the same, it was an attempt to actually buy the church some freedom to say we can sacralise a same-sex union and we don’t need the state to legalise it. The other reason I did it was on behalf of people like Fr Reardon. I thought it’d buy conservatives some time and some latitude and they could say the government can do whatever the government wants to do regarding marriage and weddings. But in our church we’re going to have a different standard”. He said most clergy members he surveyed agree in principle that they shouldn’t serve as arms of the government, but signing that certificate has become so much a part of the American marriage ritual that it’s difficult for them to see an alternative.

Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos, chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago, said he doesn’t foresee such a boycott in Chicago. He even questioned whether it’s legal, “I can’t imagine any of our priests doing that. It hasn’t happened yet and I don’t anticipate it happening to make a political statement”. Jacobse said Reardon is the first Orthodox priest to take such a strong a political stand. However, the recent Supreme Court ruling sparked a discussion among other brethren, he said, “It was a bold move on Fr Patrick’s part. A lot of priests are wondering and asking the same thing. To remove all conflict between the church and the state is to go the path that Fr Reardon has chosen to go on. I anticipate more priests are going to go that way”. Reardon emphasises that he doesn’t discourage couples from seeking licenses and legitimacy in the eyes of the law. However, having that certificate will no longer be a condition of getting married at All Saints. He said, “If you want the tax advantages of marriage recognised by the state, you’re going to have to do something else about it, like go down to a justice of the peace. If you don’t want that, that’s perfectly OK. I’m not going to require that at this parish”.

2 July 2015

Manya Brachear Pashman

Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-orthodox-priest-refuses-marriage-licenses-met-20150702-story.html#page=1

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This is breathtaking in its arrogance, ignorance, and outright contempt of Church Order. If Reardon was to do this, he had the OBLIGATION to produce a signed and sealed ukase from Vladyki Joseph authorising him to do this. HE DID NOT. This shitty OINO (Orthodox In Name Only) just went off on his own nickel, without a blessing or authorisation from his bishop. He merits immediate and irrevocable deposition for this. NO PRIEST DOES SUCH DISOBEDIENT SHIT. Jacobses merits immediate deposition for supporting Reardon. The Orthodox Church is a hierarchical Church. Our bishops, for good or for ill, set the general policy, not semi-converted, prideful, and hubristical priests. As a parish rector, Reardon had an obligation to have set his misgivings down in writing and have sent them to his ruling bishop. He would do or say nothing until he heard from his bishop. If his bishop said, “I think that you should continue to sign marriage licences”, if Reardon didn’t like that, he could take it up to the AOCANA SOBs. The Synod would have the FINAL say on the matter. If Reardon didn’t like the ruling, well, he could resign as rector of the parish.

Reardon did NOT do this in the accepted and normal Orthodox way. It’s time for Metropolitan Joseph to slap down the konvertsy brats. This disobedient bastard deserves IMMEDIATE deposition from the priesthood. No priest goes off on their own in such matters. THIS IS BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY CHURCH (Reardon set up his own narcissistic idiosyncratic opinion against the wisdom of the Church, and did so publicly). God willing, Metropolitan Joseph will discipline this worthless excuse for a priest soon. Otherwise, the Church is in for “interesting times”…

BMD

11 February 2015. Bishop Demetrios of Chicago Badmouths GOAA Parishioners… People Who LIve in Glass Houses Shouldn’t Throw Stones…

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Recently, in the GOAA Metropolis of Chicago, Bishop Demetrios sent interesting e-mails to parishioners… some say that he threatened them. Well… he’d best watch his step. If he goes after someone, especially, someone with bucks (or with access to bucks), things could come out that he wouldn’t like in open court. There’s buzz about Sidetracks… a Chicago watering hole. I can’t say one way or another… so, I won’t repeat what more than one has told me as I can’t confirm it. I’d simply say… “Demetrios… back off. If you don’t, things could come out in an open court case. Be safe… pull back. I can’t and won’t do anything… but if you continue to do things that others construe as harassment, all bets are off. Just a friendly reminder and warning”. The wisest course for the GOAA is for Dokos to cop a plea and offer restitution to the parish. That’d end all of this tout suite. Dokos would get a suspended sentence as a first-timer, the parish would get its money, and the GOAA would put a potential scandal to bed without the bomb going off… the parish and the larger Church would win, only Dokos would walk the plank. Shall they do it though?

BMD