Toledo Blade

It is now a police matter.

David Yonke, religion editor at the Toledo Blade, has a very thorough report on the unjust and spectacularly un-Christian treatment Antiochian Orthodox Bishop Mark of Toledo has received at the hands of Walid Khalife, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., who sent threatening emails to the bishop and other clergy.

As if that weren’t enough, Yonke adds this:

Meanwhile, some Antiochian Orthodox parishioners are voicing concerns over the change in status of Bishop Demetri, the disgraced former bishop of Toledo. He was arrested in July, 2003, after grabbing a woman’s breast in a casino near Traverse City, Mich., and later was convicted on a felony charge of criminal sexual conduct. Metropolitan Philip ordered Bishop Demetri to undergo therapy for alcoholism, and the bishop later retired with restrictions barring him from ministry. The 60-year-old bishop, who is a registered sex offender in Florida, was listed in December as an auxiliary bishop under Metropolitan Don Antonio Chedraoui of Mexico. More recently, a financial report to be presented at the Palm Desert convention includes Bishop Demetri’s name with the six archdiocesan bishops in a list of “officers and trustees.”

Yonke’s article also goes into the continuing dispute over the status of Antiochian bishops in light of Metropolitan Philip’s sending of a letter earlier this year “to clergy and board members stating that the Holy Synod in Damascus had ruled that all bishops in North America were now auxiliary bishops.” Yonke quotes “insiders” who fear that the upcoming national convention in Palm Desert, Calif., will turn into “Palm Desert Storm.”

The Ocholophobist has been on the story. See the post, “meet walid khalife, the metropolitan’s heavy.”

Full text of Yonke’s article follows:

Turmoil envelops Antiochian church
Toledo Bishop stands ground in Orthodox controversy
By David Yonke
Toledo Blade Religion Editor (July 13)

When Bishop Mark Maymon of Toledo attended a recent regional conference in Cincinnati for the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church, local police were on guard because of threats made by a member of the denomination’s board of trustees.

The threats by e-mail from Walid Khalife of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., accused the bishop of being a “traitor,” a “liar,” and a “dictator,” and said the bishop needed to be “taught a lesson.”

Mr. Khalife also threatened and insulted other Antiochian clergy via e-mail, and Sgt. Keith Schoonover of the Sharonville, Ohio, Police Department, which provided the security at the conference July 1-5 in Cincinnati, said “the suspect has been contacted” by police in his hometown. Continue reading →