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ANCHORAGE – Priests in Alaska’s Russian Orthodox Church have called for the removal of their top official in the state, Bishop Nikolai Soraich, claiming he has hurt the church and ruled by intimidation.

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„The clergy and probably a large percentage of the laity in the church have reached the point where they believe they can no longer serve with or under Bishop Nikolai Soraich,“ said the Rev. Michael Oleksa, archpriest at St. Alexis in Anchorage.

„It’s the accumulation of years now of what the clergy regretfully but sincerely believe is a matter of personal and collective abuse,“ he said.

In one example, priests say that the bishop’s edicts prevent children without Orthodox Christian names from baptism in the church. They say he’s made hurtful comments about Alaska Native culture, church buildings and ceremony.

His second-in-command told a group of priests not to speak Yup’ik in front of the bishop and they say they are afraid of him.

Bishop Nikolai has served in Alaska nearly seven years and is one of just nine diocesan bishops in North America.

He said he is dumbfounded by the criticism and has called a meeting next week in Anchorage to air the concerns.

„There are people out there who obviously have an issue with everything that I do,“ he told the Anchorage Daily News. He never told people not to speak Yup’ik, he said.

„I even sent out letters telling them I wanted them to use their Native language,“ the bishop said.

The Orthodox Church in America, with headquarters in Syosset, N.Y., has taken notice of the matter.

„The OCA Chancery is receiving mail and e-mail from clergy of the Diocese of Alaska. There are indications that serious issues exist that may need to be addressed,“ the OCA said in a release posted Saturday night on the church Web site.

The church’s top official in the United States, Metropolitan Herman, has been in touch with Nikolai and the Holy Synod of Bishops, the church’s governing body, the release said.

Nikolai said he has no intention of stepping down voluntarily.

„Absolutely not,“ he said. He does not know why the priests are speaking out against him, he said, but he has tried to restore order in a diocese where things had been loosely run.

The controversy is playing out on Web sites run by church watchdogs, including one called Orthodox Christians for Accountability. Discord has been building for years, Alaska priests said.

„In a nutshell, we were so … free to express ourselves until I’d say about six years ago when Nikolai came in, then pastoral theological teaching just kind of went down the drain,“ said Archpriest Peter Askoar, of Elevation of the Cross of our Lord Church in Russian Mission and a priest for 28 years.

In one of the bishop’s early visits to Russian Mission, a community of 329 on the Yukon River about 375 miles west of Anchorage, he criticized their new church building, made with love by local crews but quirky, with visible supports holding up a sagging roof, Askoar said. The bishop said it was not fit for worship, according to Askoar.

The priest was too shocked to respond. He said he understands they need to give whatever they have to the Lord „but this was the best we had to offer.“

Priests are especially troubled by an edict Bishop Nikolai gave at a diocesan assembly last year that says babies cannot be baptized unless their legal, given name is Orthodox.

In the past, children had two names, a street name and a church name, Oleksa and Askoar said. The bishop told the assembly „if the parents do not give the child an Orthodox Christian name, do not baptize them. Period,“ Askoar said.

Askoar said children in his village are waiting to be baptized while their parents work on getting their birth certificates changed by the state.

Bishop Nikolai said the name requirement for baptisms is not a new rule.

In Juneau, the Rev. Michael Spainhoward of St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church said that Bishop Nikolai has always treated him well, with kindness and generosity, but that he has seen the bishop’s other side. Spainhoward worked under Bishop Nikolai as a church deacon in Las Vegas years ago.

„I served with him, and I personally have never been chastised or belittled or humiliated. I have not experienced any of the things they have, but I know it to be possible because I have witnessed it with others,“ Spainhoward said.

The bishop should resign, he said.

„To come and impose upon and to dismiss all criticism, to dismiss culture, to dismiss all of this, hurts the people, hurts the message of the gospel,“ Spainhoward said.
Sunday, March 02, 2008 Story last updated at 3/2/2008 – 4:18 am

The Associated press

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Nikolai Remains Defiant… He refuses to admit that his Ordination to the Clergy of a Known Convicted Sex Offender is Evident Grounds for Dismissal

Nikolai Soraich, suspended OCA bishop of the Diocese of Alaska, he who ordained a sex offender knowingly to the minor clergy. Firstly, as per usual, let us set the stage by giving a quotation from the press.

Nikolai to Attend Synod

In a story published yesterday in the Kodiak Daily Mirror, Bishop Nikolai announced he would attend a special meeting of the Synod to be held next week.

Alaska Diocese Official Visits Kodiak as Worshippers Continue to Commemorate Bishop put on Leave

Orthodox Church in America officials confirmed Wednesday that Archpriest Alexander Garklavs is now in Alaska and one of his first stops was Kodiak. Church leader Metropolitan Herman appointed Rev Garklavs administrator of the Alaska diocese on 8 March, after Bishop Nikolai Soraich was put on mandatory leave for refusing to depart Alaska during an investigation into alleged charges of abuse. The bishop, who still refuses to leave, said on Wednesday that he would be happy to meet with Fr Garklavs, but hasn’t as of Wednesday.

Rev Garklavs likely stopped in Kodiak first because the island is one of the few Orthodox parishes in Alaska that defied Metropolitan Herman’s order to stop commemorating Bishop Nikolai in services. In a recent letter addressed to his congregation, Rev Innocent Dresdow said he would continue to commemorate Bishop Nikolai because he has been offered no canonical reason or official notification to do otherwise. “Although it is true that various communiqués have been posted on various websites, including the OCA website, I have received no official instructions from The Holy Synod”, Innocent wrote in the letter. “All of the official directives of the OCA, as it impacts this parish, have come to me in the mail and in hard copy. Therefore, I assume that something so significant as ceasing to commemorate a bishop would be afforded at least the same level of orderliness and decorum”.

Fr Innocent said he would defend his stance even at the cost of his priesthood. “I have been willing and am willing to suffer slander, insinuation, false accusation and potentially the loss of my priesthood in order to defend the integrity of the church”, he wrote. “What is at stake here is not a war between personalities or bishops. What is at stake here is whether or not the church will function as it has functioned for 2,000 years or whether it will decline into the ordinary and ungodly”. It is unknown if Rev Garklavs delivered written orders to Fr Innocent. Fr Innocent didn’t return phone calls and Rev Garklavs could not be reached Wednesday.

In other developments, the Holy Synod of Bishops will hold a special session on 27 March in New York (sic) to address the situation in Alaska. Bishop Nikolai, who feels angry and betrayed by the actions of his fellow bishops, said he welcomes the meeting and confirmed he will attend. “I sent a letter asking for the bishops’ help (regarding the situation in Alaska) and their response was to tell me to get out of town”, the bishop said. “I think (the meeting is) important and things need to be discussed in my presence to talk about all of these things”.

Bishop Nikolai reiterated that he has no plans to step down and that the church has no grounds to remove him. “You have to follow the rules with how they’re written”, Bishop Nikolai said. “If I was to comply with something that was not right, then I’m accepting the fact that we’re breaking the rules and that every other rule can be broken, too”. He said there is a process and he’s happy to follow the process “in every detail”.

20 March 2008

Published March 22, 2008 Alaska, Christian, Orthodox hierarchs, Orthodox life, contemporary, religious

As cited in Orthodox Christians for Accountability

There one has it, emphatically and without ambiguity! Nikolai believes that everyone has to applaud his ordination to the clergy of a known, convicted, and registered sexual offender. There are not only canons, but, also well-known traditions, customs, and established practises of the Church that forbid such an action clearly, without a doubt, and with categorical precision. For Nikolai to feign ignorance of such is truly breathtaking and beyond the pale!

Nikolai is counterattacking vigorously, and he has a veritable consilium of spin doctors pleading his cause. This case is virtually a repeat of the sordid situation in Yekaterinburg in 1999. Nikon spread abroad his individual notions on theology and church life, as has Nikolai. There were protests of high-handedness and corruption on the part of Nikon, as there are of Nikolai. There were reports of homosexuality in high church places in the case of Nikon, and the same is true in the case of Nikolai. Courageous clergy put their careers, reputation, and priesthood on the line to oppose an evil bishop in the Diocese of Yekaterinburg, and gutsy clergy such as Fr Thomas Andrew, Fr Peter Asokar, and Fr Michael Oleksa are doing likewise in the Diocese of Alaska.

There is a VERY good thing that comes out of such troubles. The sheep are separated from the goats, and with no doubt of who is of what sort. Let us remember the Church definition of the word “confessor”. A confessor is one is who stands for the Faith in times of difficulty and confusion, and who is not afraid to pay the cost, if necessary.

Recall Athanasius contra mundum (Athanasius against the world)! Look at the price that St Maximos the Confessor paid! See the resolution of St Mark of Ephesus! Bring to mind the firmness of the opposition of Bishop Pyotr Mogyla to the Jesuit Unia! Do not forget the penalty that the late Fr Dmitri Dudko suffered for his allegiance to Christ and his Church! The priests in Alaska are cut from the same cloth. They deserve our prayers and support. They are CONFESSORS. Their voice not only deserves to be heard, it has the full force of the tradition, history, and convention of the Church behind it.

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03.21.08

+NIKOLAI TO ATTEND SYNOD

In a story published yesterday in the Kodiak Daily Mirror Bishop Nikolai announced he would attend a special meeting of the Synod to be held next week. (Read the article here or here)

< „Alaska diocese official visits Kodiak as worshippers continue to commemorate bishop put on leave.

Church leader Metropolitan Herman appointed Fr. Garklavs administrator of the Alaska diocese on March 8, after Bishop Nikolai Soraich was put on mandatory leave for refusing to depart Alaska during an investigation into alleged charges of abuse.

In a recent letter addressed to his congregation, Rev. Innocent Dresdow said he would continue to commemorate Bishop Nikolai because he has been offered no canonical reason or official notification to do otherwise.

“Although it is true that various communiqués have been posted on various Web sites, including the OCA Web site, I have received no official instructions from The Holy Synod,” Innocent wrote in the letter. “All of the official directives of the OCA, as it impacts this parish, have come to me in the mail and in hard copy. Therefore, I assume that something so significant as ceasing to commemorate a bishop would be afforded at least the same level of orderliness and decorum.”

Fr. Innocent said he would defend his stance even at the cost of his priesthood.

“I have been willing and am willing to suffer slander, insinuation, false accusation and potentially the loss of my priesthood in order to defend the integrity of the church,” he wrote. “What is at stake here is not a war between personalities or bishops. What is at stake here is whether or not the church will function as it has functioned for 2,000 years or whether it will decline into the ordinary and ungodly.”

It is unknown if Fr. Garklavs delivered written orders to Fr. Innocent. Fr. Innocent didn’t return phone calls and Fr. Garklavs could not be reached Wednesday.

In other developments, The Holy Synod of Bishops will hold a special session on March 27 in New York to address the situation in Alaska. Bishop Nikolai, who feels angry and betrayed by the actions of his fellow bishops, said he welcomes the meeting and confirmed he will attend.

“I sent a letter asking for the bishops’ help (regarding the situation in Alaska) and their response was to tell me to get out of town,” the bishop said. “I think (the meeting is) important and things need to be discussed in my presence to talk about all of these things.”

Bishop Nikolai reiterated that he has no plans to step down and that the church has no grounds to remove him.

“You have to follow the rules with how they’re written,” Bishop Nikolai said. “If I was to comply with something that was not right, then I’m accepting the fact that we’re breaking the rules and that every other rule can be broken, too.”

He said there is a process and he’s happy to follow the process “in every detail.”

Mirror writer Ralph Gibbs can be reached via e-mail at rgibbs@kodiakdailymirror.com.“ Article published on Thursday, March 20th, 2008; By RALPH GIBBS (Mirror Writer)

http://www.ocanews.org/news/KodiakMirrorNikolaiStays3.21.08.html (in English)