No Going Back
“Then they said to Moses, ‘Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt?’” -Exodus 14:11
Memories are often short in this internet age. For this reason, I draw your attention to the reports of the Special Investigative Committee and Special Commission which, in 2007 and 2008, investigated the gross immorality, malfeasance, and theft that plagued the Orthodox Church in America for some two decades. The people who undertook those investigations labored with difficulty against obstructionism, lies, misdirection, character attacks, malevolent excommunication, and clerical abuse. (As Metropolitan Jonah once put it, “[The] church was looted. It was an expensive lesson, a very expensive lesson.”) The reports themselves are no longer available at oca.org, but they are now posted here at Orthodox Leader. To all of those who worked so hard to bring these sins to light: thank you. To the rest: learn well, and remember.
Rebecca Matovic:
May 21st, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Thank you, Fr. Basil, for making sure these documents remain readily accessible on the internet.
It seems fashionable in some circles to look down on a careful, responsible approach to management of the Church’s affairs as somehow inappropriate (importing American business culture to the exclusion of a true Orthodox phronema (sp?)). But the painful history recounted in these documents teaches us that NOT to be honest, cautious, and responsible in these administrative matters opens the door to temptation and abuse.
Matushka Elizabeth:
May 26th, 2011 at 4:47 pm
Thank you, Father!