Missing Financial Information

The March 2008 issue of the "Messenger" was void of any information regarding the financial situation of our community. Nearing the completion of the third month of this calendar year, one would expect at least a mention of the financial condition of our community. In the same breath, nearing the completion of the third month of this calendar year one would expect to have read the Metropolitan's letter regarding the salary specifics of our new third priest.

Thus far, only a report entitled "Year 2008 Stewardship Commitments Report as of February 29, 2008" has been made available and even that has not been made public. Among other things, the report shows that the number of pledging stewards has decreased by 70, the number of non-pledging stewards has increased by 1, the amount collected is $23,236 less than the same time last year and the amount committed is $88,727 less than the same time last year.

In a previous post, the question was asked about the salary of our new third priest. Since our parish council and the treasurer have chosen to continue their secrecy, the total expense to our community is $105,768.00. Since this salary was not included in the 2008 budget and in light of the above figures, we ask where the monies are coming from to fulfill this obligation along with the previously budgeted obligations.

In the past, the parish council and the treasurer have been more than kind to include the community’s finances on a monthly basis. This year we have not been offered the same courtesy and wonder why.

In a recent e-mail to some parishioners, our treasurer stated: "You can't believe everything that shows up on the internet. The TOCB site is a perfect example of that."

Our response is, if the above figures are incorrect, we welcome correction.

Seeking Justice IS Loving God

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
- Edmund Burke, 18th Century Anglo-Irish statesman

We received, in an anonymous comment regarding our recent blogs, an admonition to “Let God deal with M. Isaiah and Fr. Katinas.” Essentially we were told not to seek justice. We submit this is antithetical to what the Lord asks of us. Through Scripture God tells us to seek justice through love, wisdom, faith and action.

Jesus instructed us:

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave
me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes
and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you
came to visit me” (Matthew 25:35).

Christ continued, saying that whenever we aid the “least of these,” we aid Him. Clearly then, suffering occurs in this world to get our attention, to urge us toward action in aiding others, and thus to show God's love and power. When we seek justice, compassion, fairness, we become examples of His Love. We manifest His victory over evil, wickedness and apathy.

Nowhere in scripture does God say “stand by, do nothing, I’ll handle everything!” Instead, the opposite is true:

“…do away with the yoke of oppression…and satisfy the needs of the oppressed…”
(Isaiah 58:9, 10) “No one calls for justice…justice is driven back and
righteousness stands at a distance...” (Isaiah 59:4,14) The Prophet Isaiah
describes the Lord’s reaction when His people fail to fight injustice: “The LORD
looked and was displeased that there was no justice. ... He was appalled that
there was no one to intervene…” (Isaiah 59:15,16)

God calls us to stand fast and unafraid. “Administer justice every morning; rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed…” (Jeremiah 21:12). Further we should not despair that we can do little, cynically allowing injustice to prevail further. “No one could make a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.” (Edmund Burke) Seeking justice is therefore the substance of obedience to the Lord. “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” (2 James: 26)

Whether the issue is local, regional or national, there are those who say “let us simply 'obey'. We must say nothing, do nothing, tithe as usual, refrain from demanding redress for the wronged, back away from insisting on an accounting from our lay leaders, our clergy, our hierarchs; God will sort it out and judge the wrongdoers.” This seeming “obedience” is illogical and contrary to what the Lord expects of us. (When ongoing child abuse by a cleric is the issue, it is an unconscionable acquiescence to evil.) By not seeking justice here in this life, we turn from God not toward Him. We show that we lack vision, wisdom and most of all compassion. We retreat from our God-given ability to reflect the triumph of Our Risen Lord.

Better Late than Never? Or Too Little, Too Late?

This month our Metropolitan has issued a protocol (http://www.denver.goarch.org/protocols/2008-Protocols/protocol-08-08.pdf), which should be appearing in our next bulletin, that acknowledges the upcoming month of April as "Child Abuse Awareness Month." According to our Metropolitan, April is the month in which "all citizens are called to become more aware of the terrible tragedy of child abuse."

During this month, March, however, yet another victim of Father Nicholas Katinas has joined the upcoming lawsuit wherein our concerned hierarch is also named as a defendant. (http://orthodoxreform.org/cases/fr-nicholas-katinas/greek-american-joins-lawsuit/ )

While we at TOCB are heartened that the Metropolitan is actually acknowledging that such a problem even exists, we are still reminded of Metropolitan Isaiah's ardent defense of .... the victims?

It seems not. His sympathies in the past, well documented in the National Herald, on the Orthodox Reform Web site and on our own site in various blog articles, were and have been with Fr. Katinas. This ardent defense by our hierarch of the accused priest continued to occur well after the Metropolitan's own colleagues acknowledged that the accusations were substantiated, and well after even they had distanced themselves from Fr. Katinas.

Our Metropolitan's sympathies were squarely and steadfastly with the now-defrocked Fr. Katinas and understandably with his presvytera, whom he brought up frequently as a "victim" (and who we admit does, in fact, deserve sympathy). She still is faced with the presence of newspaper reporters on her doorstep hounding her for answers. The reason for this is that the now ex-Fr. Katinas has "skipped town" for some months now and his whereabouts are unknown. Therefore he is the one who left his poor presvytera is to deal with the consequences. Our Metropolitan feels badly for her, and so should we. But Metropolitan Isaiah has consistently failed to point out that, in addition to having to deal with the shocking revelations about her spouse, it is Fr. Katinas' cowardly refusal to face squarely and honestly the charges brought against him that has caused his wife to suffer these further indignities.

The true outrage, however, is that never ONCE has our Metropolitan - the one who is now "embracing" Child Abuse Awareness Month - expressed any sympathy for the victims. While Fr. Katinas was offered counseling (indicating that his superiors KNEW he had a problem), never ONCE were his victims offered paid counseling. Nor has our Metropolitan EVER expressed any remorse for his part, either as chancellor or hierarch, in failing to acknowledge that far too many (and ONE is too many!) of the church's priests were, let's be honest, pedophiles. He, along with others, simply moved them around, just as the Roman Catholic hierarchy did with their "problem priests", further spreading the inevitability of more children being abused. This is why Metropolitan Isaiah, along with others, is named as a co-defendant in the upcoming trial of Fr. Katinas.

So are we now to say "bravo, better late than never?"

Or is the real answer, "sorry, your Eminence, but your concern is far too little and way too late."

We Encourage Support for St. Sophia 5K Run/Walk

TOCB encourages everyone to support the annual St. Sophia "Go the Distance" 5K Run / Walk, which will be held on Saturday, May 3, 2008. All proceeds will go toward supporting our wonderful St. Sophia Hellenic Orthodox School.

Those who wish to obtain this registration form/flyer may e-mail tocbslc@gmail.com and we will send you the flyer (below) so that you may register for this cause.

Your support in this worthwhile endeavor is most appreciated.

Thoughts on Selective Compassion

It is interesting that our Metropolitan chose to send us a plea for assistance for an ailing deacon in Waco, Texas who is seriously ill and in need of assistance. The deacon, also a professor at Baylor University, is in fact ill, is undergoing procedures that his insurance may not cover, and is, in fact, deserving of our compassion and concern - no question about it. And we should all help to the degree we can.

However, the concern, admirable though it may be, is highly selective. Our Metropolitan is not interested at all in the fate of other clergy throughout his Metropolis, throughout other Metropolises, throughout this country, throughout all Orthodox jurisdictions, who for one reason or another are not assigned to parishes. As such, they, and by extension their families if they are married, are not receiving regular salaries, do not have pensions, and most ominiously in this day and age, do not have insurance. Some are even forced to live on welfare and food stamps, are taking menial jobs to support themselves and their loved ones, and are suffering from the effects of poverty and illnesses for which they cannot afford any treatment at all.

We at TOCB have been made aware of several such instances throughout this country, and in this Metropolis. So while we should sincerely feel compassion for Deacon Daniel and his family, and we should help them, let us also remember the others whom the Metropolitan failed to mention and who live in misery and illness anonymously, in part due to his and others' indifference to their fate.

For more information please visit the following Web site: Concerned Orthodox Christian Alliance (http://www.concernedorthodox.org/).

St. Sophia's Bright Stars Shine at District Science Fair

Dear Fellow Parishioners:

St. Sophia Hellenic Orthodox School was honored to send three fifth-graders and three sixth graders to the Granite School District Science Fair finals yesterday. There were close to 70 schools participating. The judging categories were "good", "excellent" and "superior".

Six St. Sophia students were honored as follows:

For our 5th graders, Joseph Oliveira received an "excellent" rating; Anthony Kartsonis received a "superior" rating, as did Artemis Sefandonakis. Artemis will go on to represent St. Sophia at a regional competition at the University of Utah.

In the 6th grade competition Zoe Tsoutsounis, Steven Pappas and Macoy Gehrke all received "superior" ratings; both Steven and Macoy were also chosen to attend the Jane Goodall "Roots and Shoots" Environmental Fair at Westminster College. Only 12 participants were chosen!

Congratulations to the children and parents of all who participated in St. Sophia's Science Fair, and all who went on to the district fair.

- Vickie Folias, member
Board of Directors of St. Sophia School

Various Musings

March Messenger

"We all know people who are consumed with self-pity (sic) and constantly complain about how they where (sic) mistreated. These people dare to judge and condemn others while they do not recognize their own faults. We need to take responsibilities of our own actions and not transfer blame to others for our choices." Taken from the proistameno of Prophet Elias' message in the March Messenger.

• He certainly has taken responsibility for his actions and the role he played in the removal and excommunication of a member of the parish council.
• He and the proistameno of Holy Trinity certainly have taken responsibility for their actions and the role they played in precluding three otherwise qualified candidates from having their names on the ballot of the recent parish council elections.
• Could these be the complainers to whom he is referring in his missive?

We certainly understand our faults and stand in judgment of no one. One Only will judge. When someone is mistreated there is someone else perpetrating the mistreatment. The greater responsibility falls on the perpetrator of the mistreatment than on the one being mistreated.

"Ο νοων νοειτω" και ο "εχων ωτα ακουειν ακουετω"and in Greek, "οσα δε φτανει η αλεπου, τα κανει κρεμασταρια"

Third Priest Information

In December 2007 the metropolitan wrote he would be sending a separate letter describing the duties and salary of the new priest. Where is this letter promised by our metropolitan? Certainly, the letter has arrived as there have been four pay periods in the new year. We would ask our president and treasurer: Has this letter been distributed to the parish council? Do they know anything about it? Has it been discussed? Why hasn't it been sent to the community? What are the particulars?

We at TOCB have the salary particulars and have been waiting for the parish council, especially the treasurer, to fulfill their duty to the community and distribute the information. Two months of patience might wear thin. In our treasurer's own words "You can't believe everything that shows up on the internet. The TOCB site is a perfect example of that." When the time comes, we will see how accurate our figures are.

- Yannis Armaou