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  That Orthodox Scandal

By Rod Dreher
Beliefnet [Dallas TX]
February 22, 2007

http://www.beliefnet.com/blogs/crunchycon/2007/02/that-orthodox-scandal.html

Remember when I said the other day that our newsroom was looking into an Orthodox scandal? It's on the DMN's front page today: the longtime pastor of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church here in Dallas has been suspended from ministry after church officials found, "There is no doubt that Father Nicholas engaged in serious moral transgressions." The alleged abuse of minors occurred decades ago in a parish elsewhere, according to national church officials, though there has been an accusation from a former altar boy at the Dallas parish who claims to have been abused by the priest in the 1980s.

Questions remain, among them:

1. Why did church officials allow Fr. Nicholas, who is 72, to retire last July, and then days later suspend him from ministry, without telling the Dallas congregation what had happened?

2. Are these two cases the only ones involving this priest?

3. How aggressive has the Greek Orthodox Church in America been in policing its own clergy with regard to sex abuse?

4. Fr. Nicholas is married with children and grandchildren. What does this incident say about having a married clergy as a bulwark against child sex abuse?

I pray for the people of this parish, which I've visited. It's a vibrant parish, and Fr. Nick, who has overseen lots of evangelical efforts there, has been a major figure on the Dallas religion scene for a long time. Those people are hurting, undoubtedly, and will continue to hurt. But the truth must out, and there must be severe consequences for clerics abusing children. Period. The end.

I'm sure some will say to me, "See, you left Catholicism over the sex scandal, but it exists in the Orthodox church too." Again I say: I didn't leave Catholicism only over the sex scandal, and moreover, I never believed, nor have ever claimed, that the Orthodox church, or any church, is free of this evil. All I can say is that through bitter and heartbreaking experience, I'm better able to deal with this kind of horrible news now than I once was.

  
 
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