GOA

The headline is a misnomer. What will strike the careful reader are several important points, including:

• Total payments in the GOA since 2000 for sexual abuse related cases total $16 million;
• The GOA pays out $150,000 a month in sexual abuse settlements from one case alone;
• An implied relationship exists between the toleration of homosexuality and child abuse;
• The Greek Government is being asked to fund Hellenic College and Holy Cross Seminary;
• The Ecumenical Patriarch has final administrative authority over the GOA;
• Hellenism (as distinct from and parallel to Orthodox Christianity) remains the conceptual framework through which the evangelistic work of the GOA in America is filtered.

The article, framed in laudatory tones, in fact uncovers very serious problems. It was published in The National Herald (Octobery 24, 2009); interviewer is Theodore Kalmoukos. H/T: Pokrov.org.

The remarkable life of His Eminence includes distinguished work as a scholar of Christian origins, beloved teacher and servant of the Orthodox Church.

His Eminence Discusses His Ten Years of Service in an Exclusive Interview with TNH

His Emminence Abp. Demetrios blessing a congregation

BOSTON – It has been ten years since the election and enthronement of Achbishop Demetrios to the Archiepiscopal throne of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

In an exclusive interview with The National Herald, His Eminence touched upon a variety of ecclesiastical issues, and answered the tough questions that must be asked about the challenges, problems and prospects of the ecclesial life of the Archdiocese and the Greek American community.

His Eminence spoke about the telephone call he received from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew offering him the position of Archbishop, the changes in the Archdiocesan charter, the formation of uniform parish regulations, the finances of the Church and the $16 million paid to the victims of the pedophile priests, the School of Theology and much more.

TNH: Your Eminence, 10 years have gone by and it seems like it was yesterday. What were your thoughts then and what are your thoughts today?

ARCHBISHOP DEMETRIOS: The time went by so fast that it really seems like lightning. On Thursday, August 19 in 1999 I was at my desk at home in New Psychiko in Athens and I was writing something when the phone rang. It was His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch who called and told me that “We are in a Synodal session and I am calling to announce to you that we have taken the decision for you to go to America as Archbishop and I would like to ask you not to postpone or decline.” I told the Patriarch, “I am speechless. It is a calling from God, and although I am mindful of the tremendous difficulties that exist, I have no right to decline at this moment.” Continue reading →