It appears that the recently resigned superior of St. Herman of Alaska's Monastery in Cleveland, Ohio, Igumen John (Henry), was removed from the ranks of the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA a month prior to his February arrest because of his failure to provide a full audit for the finances of the Monastery and its house of mercy. More on that and Fr. John's life can be found here.
Update (8:11pm): Although Fr. John's current ecclesiastical status remains unclear, he is apparently on a retreat at an Orthodox monastery in upstate New York and planning on entering a treatment program in Maryland at its conclusion. Back in Cleveland the interim administration at St. Herman's hopes to preserve its identity as an Orthodox Christian outreach and may meet with the members of the Greater Cleveland Council of Orthodox Clergy on 4 April. More here.
Musings from the Fourth Rome: A Source for Orthodox Christian News and Events
Showing posts with label St. Herman of Alaska's Monastery in Cleveland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label St. Herman of Alaska's Monastery in Cleveland. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Cleveland Monastery Abbot Resigns Following Discovery of Weapons
Abbot John (Henry), the superior of a Ukrainian Orthodox monastery and house of mercy in Cleveland, Ohio, has resigned his abbacy and oversight of the house of mercy after investigators found 230 gu
ns and 2,000 rounds of ammunition on Monastery property in the Cleveland area. More on that here.
My only personal experience with Fr. John came from a weekend retreat sponsored by a Chicagoland parish of the Kiev Patriarchate, at which Fr. John was the main speaker. I spent most of the weekend trying to figure out what was Orthodox about standing in a circle holding hands or advocating being "slain in the Spirit," but I spent the rest of the time wondering how on earth either the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA or the Kiev Patriarchate could be so lax in their clergy standards that they could allow such men to become parish priests, much less the abbots of monasteries...
The above aside, St. Herman's House of Mercy (attached to Fr. John's St. Herman's Monastery) has done a tremendous amount of good in Cleveland. That shall continue under the supervision of an interim administrative committee, but it's to be hoped that both the Monastery and its house of mercy will somehow survive this and grow from it.
ns and 2,000 rounds of ammunition on Monastery property in the Cleveland area. More on that here.My only personal experience with Fr. John came from a weekend retreat sponsored by a Chicagoland parish of the Kiev Patriarchate, at which Fr. John was the main speaker. I spent most of the weekend trying to figure out what was Orthodox about standing in a circle holding hands or advocating being "slain in the Spirit," but I spent the rest of the time wondering how on earth either the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA or the Kiev Patriarchate could be so lax in their clergy standards that they could allow such men to become parish priests, much less the abbots of monasteries...
The above aside, St. Herman's House of Mercy (attached to Fr. John's St. Herman's Monastery) has done a tremendous amount of good in Cleveland. That shall continue under the supervision of an interim administrative committee, but it's to be hoped that both the Monastery and its house of mercy will somehow survive this and grow from it.
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