CANADA/UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Monday, March 17, 2014
For more information: Melanie Jula Sakoda ( 925-708-6175 cell, melanie.sakoda@gmail.com ), Cappy Larson ( cappy@rlarson.com ), David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com)
Clergy sex abuse victims beg synod to defrock archbishop
He was Orthodox Church’s highest ranking cleric in Canada
But he was just found guilty of sexually assaulting a young boy
SNAP to church officials: “You’re breaking your own abuse policy”
Members of an abuse survivors’ group are urging Orthodox Church officials to defrock Canada’s highest ranking archbishop who has been found guilty of molesting a child.
Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, say that the denomination’s panel which is responsible for disciplining clergymen is breaking church policy by not permanently ousting Archbishop Seraphim Storheim, who was convicted in January of sexually violating an 11 year old boy.
The synod of bishops of the Long Island based Orthodox Church in America (OCA) will begin its spring session in Syosset, New York, tomorrow. Among the items on their agenda are further “decisions” concerning Storheim.
[Pokrov]
The Policies, Standards, and Procedures on Sexual Misconduct, approved by the OCA’s synod at their Fall 2013 meeting, state that “Any clergy … found to have committed child sexual abuse … shall be deposed by the Holy Synod of Bishops, and shall be permanently prohibited from exercising any functions or responsibilities of parish ministry. …”
“This is a no-brainer and should have happened weeks ago,” said Cappy Larson of SNAP. “Both Archbishop Seraphim’s guilt and church policy are crystal clear. Church officials’ delays and indecision are helping a criminal and hurting his victims.”
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