Tangled Webs

Dear Anon and others with similar thoughts:

Interesting posting, since you have it all completely backwards! I don't "hate" Met. Herman; but it is quite clear that he is a liar and a thief; the comments at the Diocesean assembly by none other than Mr. Tosi himself confirm this, in stating that, "... if the truth came out it would destroy the Church." Rubbish! What this means is that, in fact, as many of us suspect and contend, +MH is covering-up what happened, something(s) did in fact happen, and if disclosed to the weak-kneed laity, it would destroy the Church. I submit that, if truth destroys the organization, than it is an organization that does not need to exist. I refer you to the dialogue between Christ and Pontius Pilate regarding "truth."

I joined the OCA because I wanted the truth, and I felt that Orthodoxy had access to the truth; only to find that like many amateur-run organizations, there was a group of professionals at the heart of it all, who were abusing the organization for their own personal benefit; and now, a huge and on-going cover-up! And we're supposed to continue to send-in money?

No, Anon., you've got it all backwards. We who are withholding funds are the ones taking action! We are the ones risking our reputations and relationships up and down the line, in order to put pressure on our corrupt administrators, of which Mr. Tosi is a part. He has obviously obtained access to some information which is being withheld from us - the membership of the OCA - and made the statements which he made at the most recent Diocesean assembly, that the information which he has access to would, if told to me/us, would "destroy the church." First of all, that means that there is information, it is damaging to at least one if not more of the people engaged in the cover-up, and that certain individuals within the Administration of the OCA or the NY and Wash Diocese know about it, and are engaged in lies, in order to in their opinion, "protect" the church.

Well, I'm very sorry, but that's not the way to run a church, and it's not the way to run any organization that seeks support from the public, or from a membership. What assurance do I or any of us have that any money we send-in, will be spent to "do the work of Christ," as you assert? It is Mr. Tosi himself who has said, "If you knew what was going-on here, it would destroy us." By the way, send in more money so that we can continue to do whatever it was that was done which would destroy the church if you knew about it! Ridiculous!

We may actually save the church, but making it impossible for these men currently in charge, abetted by +MH in any case, and possibly led by him as a perpetrator, to continue their work. Furthermore, the money as I understand it, is being held in escrow to give it to the new leaders of the OCA if and when they are appointed/elected and empowered.

No, it is not we, The Withholders, who are threatening Christ's Church, and the OCA has demonstrated that under the current administration it is NOT doing the work of Christ. We are working and risking everything by withholding, and by insisting that we all at large, be made aware of whatever it is that Mr. Tosi, and other +MH-hand-picked insiders, know, and that we be given our rightful role in helping to rectify the damage to the OCA, and not kept in the dark like some benighted, sniveling, Old World serfs!

Despite whatever "good" they are doing - and I have no doubt that some of the work being done at the OCA Seminaries and the seminarians themselves are "good" - but I say, "NO MORE MONEY," to them as long as +Herman is on their Board, chairman, president, assistant professor, or whatever; as long as +Nikolai continues to run Alaska and St. Herman's as a private personal fiefdom, totally out of control and out of all boundaries of proper management for a not-for-profit organization, and a small group of cronies remains in-control of the organization, having knowledge to which they refuse to release to we who are expected to fund it.

This is serious business, and we The Withholders are not lazy, not "sitting on our butts," and the other things you said. It is those who are continuing to provide funds to this corrupt Administration who are intellectually lazy, and just want to "keep the good time rolling" by paying for the likes of +Herman and +Nikolai to act like they have no accountability to anyone, and to do what they please. Stopping them IS for the "good of the Church" and the OCA. Period. You can tell Mr. Tosi, if he sends the document he's read that will "destroy the Church" to Mark Stokoe, for publication on this site, I'll personally send a $1,000 check to the Diocese to help cover part of the arrears of the parish in question. And if I were a betting man, I'd be willing to bet him that it won't "destroy the Church." May make a few bishops sweat under their robes, however! You know what Harry Truman said about it getting a little heated.

This is the most ridiculous posting I've ever read! First of all, you have no idea what I do, what I read, how I serve, and what my plans are. It will do no good whatsoever for young seminarians to go through and get their divinity degree, if the Church to which they hope to be ordained is dead because of corrupt seniors (bishops, the Met) and administrators!

I think your post would have been a delight to hundreds or thousands of German officers in Nazi Germany in the second world war: "Just keep those shoes shined, and those uniforms pressed! And pay your Party dues! Got to keep-up the appearance of the glorious German Army! Can't let a little thing like these Nazis who just happen to be in charge right now ruin the German Army's reputation." No! When you find yourself to be part of a totally dysfunctional and corrupt organization, you have to resist.

As for Church history, let's review a little of that, shall we? Here was Paul, an outsider. He taught a Gospel which supposedly, he received directly from the risen Christ; and this Gospel was that Gentile believers did NOT have to first become Jews (circumcision, kosher laws, etc) to later become followers of Christ, and that they (the Gentile converts) should have table fellowship and full fellowship within the Church of Christ, as co-equal to the Jewish converts. And who stood against him (at least, at first)? The "pillars" of the Jerusalem Church, including Peter, James, and others who supported the Judaizing of the Gentiles prior to fully accepting them as Christians. It was basically the first schismatic crisis in Christianity. And despite the ridicule he received from the "pillars" and the Jerusalemite Christians, Paul triumphed, and the rest as they say, is history.

Well, this is in many ways what we face today: Only the "pillars" of the Syosset Regime, and those like you who exhort us all to follow them, would have us "cease and desist" our resistance to blatant corruption, unfeeling arrogance, and so forth, on the part of a large number of our OCA Bishops and the Met in particular! I wish to stand with Paul and say, "No! This isn't the way it is supposed to be." You can't try to fulfill the mission of properly training future priests WHILE THE CHIEF COVER-UP ARTIST is the Chairman of your Board or president of your seminary! Eject +MH from these various positions (since it seems essentially impossible to remove him as the Metropolitan), and THEN the donations will flow. That's not "lazy" thinking, and it's not "un-Christian." Is what Paul did to stand-up to the "pillars" in Jerusalem "un-Christian?" I think not! We have a corrupt group of administrators being further enabled by a weak-willed group of hierarchs (the HS), and an MC with no real authority (due to the way the Statutes are written), and in any case having divided loyalties and in any case being lied to (as confirmed by Mr. Tosi in his, "If you only knew what I know" speech). It is up to us the membership of the OCA to cut-off the funds for this vicious cycle, and to say to the "pillars" of the OCA, "Enough! Out!"

This is what's happening, if slowly. And, as for remaining anonymous, I can't speak for anyone else, but as for me, I have explained many times why I chose to remain nameless: it would be of no use whatsoever for my 'actual name' to be used, and it would only jeapordize my Parish and my Parish priest, since we come under the sway of +Herman as he is our Diocesan bishop, and has carte blanche to "punish" our Parish if he doesn't like my thoughts here posted. It would not be right for me to expose the entire Parish to his wrath, since I am writing these words on my own, and without consultation with the entire Parish.

As for the rest of your diatribe, you know not of which you speak! Indeed, I find that, in my Parish, those who are the most upset about the OCA's scandal of corruption, are in fact those who are the most committed, most involved, and most active in supporting and doing those things you accuse us in your post of ignoring.

Right, Mark. Right on! The reason is, with the Massive Cover-Up on-going at the +Met and Central Church level, made even worse by the fact that the +Met is also the head of the Diocese in question (Washington & New York), it is all merely the tip of the iceberg in terms of the many and sundry mini-cover-ups that are no doubt going-on throughout the OCA and its subordinate and affiliate entities. That is why people need to cut-off ALL MONEY to the OCA, and if you feel the need to make contributions, make it only to your parish, and designate it for a specific use. The reason this entire episode continues is that people have a tremendous loyalty to their parish, their own parish priest, and in many cases, the "designated amounts" just flow-on to the Diocese and the OCA HQ. It's understandable; it's also why everyone has disdain for Congress, but continues to re-elect their own local congressman - and then they wonder why nothing changes!

I am also in a parish of the W&NY Diocese, and what word I get from the Diocesean level, well, what word? It's basically never discussed at my parish, I've seen no report of any kind, and the only thing I ever hear about is an invite to a lunch about twice a year on "deanery day." I am a very active member of my parish, and I have absolutely no idea what is going on or being done at the Diocesean level in W&NY, and I pay attention. Frankly, I don't really expect much, since it too is under the absolute control of +Herman, "the Coverer-Upper-in-Chief," and I know what that means. I'm just waiting for the money to dry-up, and for +Herman to finally throw-in the towel; and I keep my eye out for +Herman's appearances at my parish, so I can absent myself on those days.

However, it seems that maybe there are many parishes in W&NY which are engaged in de facto withholding, since the Diocese seems to be pretty short of money, at least according to Mr. Tosi's letter. All I can say is, "He's got a lot of nerve to ask for money under the current circumstances." I wonder if our non-resident presiding bishop (who in contravention of the canons lives outside of his diocese, in Penn.) is aware that the Diocese of W&NY is broke? Or, as in many other things, is he our bishop "in name only"? Sorry, now I'm getting all disrespectful and such; see why I want to be absent when His Emptitude is coming to town?

Okay, time for me to get back to "sitting on my butt," and being a "lazy Christian" again, as a previous poster on this site accused.

Mr. Cabrera:

Whatever I am, I'm no Dietrich Bonhoeffer! I hope that one day, if and when I encounter the kind of true Evil he encountered, that I can have his courage! And whatever he may be, +Herman is no Hitler. He's merely someone who somehow wound-up in charge of the OCA and either (a) directly participated in theft of funds, or (b) exercised his near-dictatorial powers in order to assist/administer what is now a rather large cover-up of financial malfeasance in the OCA. I, for one, am not advocating that anyone stop personal outreach, delivery of food baskets, boycott of parish-sponsored outreach and relief efforts. But, what admittedly few seminarians I have spoken with, are beside themselves with anguish as to the state of the OCA - and it's not because of withholding or resistance - it's because they don't want to be tainted by association with what is clearly a corrupt administration and a deceitful, enabling Metropolitan and a terminally-weak Synod! And I categorically reject the notion, that we can have fine parishes, and loving people at the "grass roots" who are effective - while the national Church administration at the OCA level is corrupt. Rather than Hitler, I suggest that the better model in our case is the Nixon Administration. Seems to me that the country nearly tore itself apart over Mr. Nixon, while the pot-holes in the streets were still getting filled, and the electricity kept flowing, the USDA continued to inspect beef, etc. People in the modern world, be they clergy or laity, want an honest and open hierarchy, and won't tolerate corruption at the top, no matter how well the local organizations are bumping along. What we face in the OCA is a further debilitation of having no effective way in-place to suspend a corrupt hierarch other than a Holy Synod appointed by said hierarch! The only way the laity can respond is to withhold funds; our priests and other clergy speak out at their own risk, and as long as you mentioned Herr Bonhoeffer, let's not forget what happened to him, this Godly man and emminent educator: His family was destroyed, and he was hanged at sunrise just three weeks prior to the liberation of the prison camp where he was being held. Withholding funds from known corrupt administrators is NOT standing in the way of Christ's work! As I have said many times here, there is much work to do and that can be done, outside of the OCA in support of the work of Christ. As our faith teaches the VALUE of each human being, similarly, I believe that each person put into a position of authority, especially within a church, has a RESPONSIBILITY and an ACCOUNTABILITY, and that several (not all) of our hierarchs and a handful of clergy (such as RSK, for example) abbrogated their responsibilities (by actually stealing, lying to cover-up a known crime, or serving in a position 'in-name-only'), and so far only one (again, RSK) has been held accountable, and even at that, not required to pay any restitution. And none of that is acceptable, in my humble opinion.

That's all I'm saying. Forget the mysticism and so forth; I don't set the agenda of Christ's church, but bishops and clergymen do; and in the OCA, many in a leadership position have by action or by omission engaged in a cover-up of misleading the people, stealing from Church funds, and who knows what else. Remember, it was another officer of the Church, Mr. Larry Tosi, Treasurer of W&NY, who said, "If you knew what happened, it would destroy the Church." I didn't say that; he said it. And I think he believes it. I'd like to prove him wrong, by "forcing" him or someone else in authority to reveal what really happened, so that we collectively and through our rightfully-appointed leadership (HS & MC) be energized enough to remove the perpetrators from their positions of authority over us (and over our clergy), precisely so that the rest of us can get on with the building-up of Christ's Church on this Earth, and get the OCA back on-track in fulfilling its mission on this continent.

That's not laziness; nor is it being against the work of Christ's Church! Come on!

And if by implication in my previous post I called you a Nazi sympathizer, I apologize. I didn't really; I merely suggested that we cannot simply be "good soldiers" if it means being servants to a corrupt regime, as many Germany Army officers convinced themselves during WWII. As based as +Herman et al. might be, they in no way rise to the level of genocide and global destruction as did the Nazi leadership! I just would like to point out that, we can't just blithely go on inviting people to join the OCA when we know that the men at the top of it have nothing but contempt for the people, and by their actions, demonstrate contempt for Christ and any good standards, by any measure. For me, it's all very simple: What part of 'Thou Shalt Not Steal,' and 'Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness' is hard to understand? If I can understand it, isn't it reasonable to presume that a Theologian/Bishop could understand it?