Abuse Trial Divides the Faithful

By Dianne Williamson
Telegram & Gazette
May 6, 2012

http://www.telegram.com/article/20120506/COLUMN01/105069821

The Rev. Donald J. Peters sat outside the crowded courtroom, his tall frame folded and hunched, as though single-handedly absorbing the pain of a parish in torment.

"This is one of the saddest days of my life," he said softly. "But it's also one of the most important. It's about truth, which is a basic tenet of orthodox theology. … I truly believe that almost every person in that room feels the pain in a different way."

He was referring to Room 24 of Central District Court, which was filled, quite literally, with a church divided. On one side sat those loyal to the Rev. Charles Michael Abdelahad, 55, pastor on leave of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral, now a criminal defendant in a bizarre sexual assault case. On the other side, supporters of the alleged victim sat in unity behind her parents, on wooden benches as unyielding as church pews.

On Thursday, Rev. Peters was waiting to take the stand as the star witness in a case that has pitted families against families, friends against friends and priest against priest. It's a case rife with reference to demons and exorcism, a case that includes photographs of a woman bruised, battered and bitten, allegedly at the hands of a priest she had turned to for counseling.

Rev. Peters, once associate pastor under Rev. Abdelahad, would be called by the prosecution to testify about what he saw and heard in the pastor's office, and his testimony would draw gasps from the crowd, many of them senior citizens who refuse to believe that the man known affectionately as "Father Mike" could abuse anyone. Father Mike, after all, had baptized their children. He reigned for years over a large, close-knit parish with a proud tradition. He was, quite simply, incapable of cruelty or violence.

"He's been railroaded," said one angry supporter of Father Mike, an elderly woman who asked not to be identified. "It's not in his character to do anything like this. This girl is trying to destroy him."

The "girl" is the alleged victim, a 45-year-old mother of three, who testified that Father Mike physically and sexually abused her while attempting to treat her eating disorder. During sessions at the church from 2007 through 2009, she said he'd grab her by the hair, slap her in the face, kick her, beat her with a miniature baseball bat, tear her clothes off, and sexually assault her. He told her they were engaged in "spiritual warfare" and her body was a "battleground," she said.

"I was extremely confused," she testified, saying that she considered Father Mike her "spiritual father."

Rev. Peters, 52, had served as associate pastor at St. George — a volunteer position for which he received no salary — for 17 years. He is also a lawyer in private practice. His grandparents were among the founders of the church, which boasts close to 500 families, and he was baptized and married there. St. George was the center of his social and spiritual life, and the parishioners adored their soft-spoken, humble priest.

Many still do, but not everyone. Some blame Rev. Peters for summoning a different type of demon to their door, one that would embroil their pastor in a sordid scandal and tear at the very fabric of their beloved church. It was Rev. Peters, after all, who confronted Father Michael about the counseling sessions. It was Rev. Peters who brought his concerns to the attention of the parish counsel, which largely ignored him. Rev. Peters left the church in August of 2010, about a month before Father Mike would be charged by police.

Lorna Haddad, head of the church's women's club and a witness for the prosecution, is among those who admire Rev. Peters for his courage. Outside the courtroom, she bluntly called the pastor's supporters "Bible benders and Kool-Aid drinkers" who care nothing about the truth.

"He's lost his whole life," she said of Rev. Peters. "It's awful what they've done to him and his family."

Waiting to testify last Thursday, Rev. Peters broke down as he noted that his elderly parents no longer wish to hold their funerals at the church on Anna Street, to which they've been devoted since childhood.

"I feel devastated to see the community that my grandparents founded, the center of my life, torn asunder," he said. "The devil has come in here and just hit this place like an earthquake."

When it came time for his testimony, the courtroom was still as Rev. Peters detailed the yelling and profanities coming from Father Michael's office three different times in 2008, when he was counseling the alleged victim.

"It was one of the most bone-chilling things I've ever heard," Rev. Peters testified, saying that Father Mike was calling the woman a "(expletive) whore" and other degrading names.

The third time, after hearing the woman plead with the pastor to stop, Rev. Peters walked into the office — "I stopped being a coward," he said — and saw the woman curled in a fetal position on a chair, shaking and sobbing. He later told the pastor that he was worried, that people were talking about the perverse counseling sessions. In response, Father Mike said the woman was "possessed by a demon."

Rev. Peters acknowledged that his already-strained relationship with Father Mike became worse after the confrontation, but he bristled when defense lawyer James G. Reardon Jr. focused on prior conflicts between the pair regarding church affairs.

"If you're suggesting that I'd perjure myself as a lawyer and a priest … it's foolishness," he said curtly.

The impact of his powerful testimony on the judge is unknown, as the case is continued to May 25. But the effect on parishioners in the courtroom was immediate, and agonizing.

"I love them both," said a longtime parishioner, his eyes filling with tears. "This is killing me. It's like it's happening in my own family."

"I want to throw up," one woman said bluntly.

The case is far from simple on any level. Testimony included claims that the alleged victim, an extremely troubled woman, may have received the bruises from her husband. The defense has indicated that she was in love with Father Michael, citing flirtatious emails from the woman to the pastor. It's clear that Father Michael's counseling was shockingly, dangerously inappropriate, but a judge will decide if he broke the law.

Outside the courtroom, Rev. Peters said he's been shunned by relatives and friends who disapprove of him speaking out against a fellow priest. Conversely, according to others, some parishioners have left the church in disgust over the pastor's actions, with numbers ranging from 50 to 100.

"I refused to participate in the culture of silence that pervaded and became increasingly worse," Rev. Peters said. "If the price I have to pay is being a pariah in my own community, that's the price I have to pay. People don't like to hear bad things about people they care about."

Some call it denial. Others, blind obedience. And regardless of the verdict, it could take years for the chasms to mend at the now-splintered church, once so deeply united in family, faith and love.

"This church was one of the best parishes in the country," Rev. Peters said. "Now, we're in mourning. It's the death of a community."

Contact: dwilliamson@telegram.com