Posted by from OCANEWS on 7/26/2009, 12:38 pm Link: Click here to read the original article on OCANEWS
Board Administrator
http://www.ocanews.org/news/ConventionReflection7.24.09.html
7.25.09 from The Assembly
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
For the first time in nearly forty years of his episcopacy, Metropolitan Philip
was faced with open dissent from the floor of his Convention. What began as a
celebration of his tenure at the 49th Annual Archdiocesan Convention in Palm
Desert on Sunday, July 19th degenerated into self-justification, threats,
curses and at least one instance of physical violence, by July 24th.
The Good
Major steps were taken towards necessary reforms of the Archdiocese. At the
Thursday session of the General Assembly, the Convention adopted a motion
barring any person who has been convicted of, or had settled criminal charges,
from serving on the Board of Trustees or the Local Synod. This resolution
precludes one honorary trustee and one full trustee from further service on the
Board, and one retired bishop from serving on the Synod again.
At the Friday session, the convention adopted a resolution directing that a
committee be established to revise the Archdiocesan constitution to bring it
into conformity with the directives of the Holy Synod of Antioch and New York
state law governing religious entities and non-profits. It reads: " RESOLVED,
THAT the Board of Trustees, by December 1 of this year, establish an official
Constitutional Reconciliation Committee consisting of no fewer than three
members appointed by the Local Synod and headed by a bishop selected by the
Local Synod to draft an Archdiocesan Constitution that is consistent with New
York law and in a form acceptable to the Holy Synod of Antioch. Such Committee
shall give a progress report at each Board of Trustees meeting until the
resulting Constitution is approved by the members of the Archdiocese."
The Metropolitan indicated that he did not oppose the motion, but suggested that
it be revised so that he was in charge of the process, in consultation with his
Chancellors. The motion passed as written.
The Bad
Although the Department of Finance recommended going forward with an audit of
the Archdiocese, the General Assembly would not consider a motion to require an
independent audit of the finances of the Archdiocese. The Metropolitan also
refused to call for a vote on a motion that would have prohibited the
Archdiocese from using its funds (directly or indirectly) to support Bishop
Demetri (Khoury), as long as he disobeys the restrictions placed on him by the
Local Synod of North America upon his retirement, in lieu of being deposed.
The Ugly
Failing to adopt reform measures was bad, but the means by which debate was
stifled and proponents of reform were threatened were just plain ugly.
Intimidation began Tuesday night at the clergy meeting (read about that here)
when a priest of the Midwest diocese raised questions regarding certain
administrative and canonical matters. +Philip grew tired of the priest's
questions. Another priest grabbed the microphone out of the hands of the
questioning priest. Following the meeting, Bishop Antoun confronted him. When
the priest asked for Sayidna's blessing, the bishop refused, calling him
"stubborn" and saying "if you knew my heart, you could not be one". +Antoun
demanded to know who he was, where he was schooled, and his reason for his
presence at the clergy meeting. +Antoun later saw the priest at the Assembly,
and continued his condemnation, calling him "The Devil" to his face.
The real fireworks, though, began on Thursday, July 23rd, prior to the opening
of the first General Assembly session. Several delegates attempted to distribute
copies of the "Report on the Necessity for an Ongoing Independent External
Financial Audit of the Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of
North America" (Read it here.) Physical harassment began soon thereafter, when
"security" personnel recruited to help by the Convention organizers from the
host parish confronted the delegates who were distributing them, demanding that
they leave the main meeting hall and go outside. It was at this point that a
priest physically assaulted one of the people handing out the reports, shoving
him out into the hallway. This same delegate was then knocked down to the floor
by someone - either the priest or someone working with him. Another person
attempted to grab the cell phone camera of a delegate who was attempting to
photograph the developing melee. Another person grabbed the first delegate from
behind to physically move him away - not knowing that in California such actions
constitute battery.
As delegates favoring an audit continued to hand out the reports from the
hallway outside the main assembly room, one of the co-Chairs of the convention
then requested they move across the hall, where they would be unable to make
contact with the delegates entering the hall. When the delegates declined to
move, the co-Chair then attempted to physically block the distribution of the
reports by standing in front of one of them.
As delegates who received reports entered the hall, the aforementioned
"security" personnel attempted to take the reports from them as being "
unauthorized". A few gave them up, while others refused to do so. At least one
priest attempted to take a report from another priest, invoking the
Metropolitan's authority to do so. During the lunch recess, the same "security"
personnel then went back to the tables in the assembly hall and confiscated
many of the unattended reports, throwing them in the trash.
Things calmed down after lunch, as delegates were subjected to a series of
departmental reports. (You can hear those reports here.)
Confrontation resumed Friday, though, with the Metropolitan's Message to the
Convention. +Philip went on the offensive, listing his accomplishments
year-by-year, calling up Archdiocesan staff and departmental officers and
members of the Board of Trustees to ask if they had ever embezzled funds or
bribed members of the Holy Synod. Not surprisingly, they denied any such
efforts. Metropolitan Philip then attacked priests who have posted anonymously
on the website of "That Guy", i.e. OCANews.org, unfavorably comparing any who
had done so to "dogs". Although he was quoting Mark Twain, many in the audience
could not miss the allusion to the ancient insult "ya ibn kalb". He played the
race card, attempting to cast those who questioned him as racists who sought to
foment dissension within the Archdiocese. It was red meat to his many supporters
in the audience, who interrupted the address to sing "Many Years" to the 78 year
hierarch. (You can hear the Metropolitan's whole speech here.)
The Department of Finance report heated up when a CPA-turned-priest suggested
that the Archdiocese perform regular audits of the finances of the Archdiocese.
The Metropolitan appeared to have anticipated this request, throwing out the red
herring of the supposed need to audit each parish as part of an overall audit.
This argument ignored the fact that each parish is a legal entity separate and
distinct from the Archdiocese, such that auditing one does not entail auditing
the other. Opponents of the motion then gave progressively inflated estimates
of the cost of such an audit. Dn. Emile Sayegh, whom +Philip announced early on
would be a new chancellor to replace Robert Koory, went to a podium and stated
that any motion was out of order, claiming that under the Pittsburgh
Constitution, only the Board of Trustees could order an audit, as it would be an
"administrative" matter and thus fall under their purview. This legal opinion
disregarded the very next section of the Pittsburgh constitution, which vests
all legislative authority (which would include the right to legislatively
require an audit) with the General Convention. According to New York law the
Archdiocese can have only one chancellor, either Ajalat or Sayegh - but not
both. No one objected to the irony of a "questionable" chancellor questioning
the right of an unquestioned Assembly to audit itself...
After more discussion, the report of the Department of Finance was deemed
"Approved" by the chair who attempted to do so on a voice vote. When a delegate
objected based on the substantial number of "nays", those voting "aye" were
requested to stand up. Audit proponents who then asked for clarification of
motion were ignored, and the motion was deemed to have carried.
Intimidation tactics resumed after lunch when a female delegate, introduced the
aforementioned motion to prohibit financial support to retired Bishop +Demetri
while he ignores the restrictions imposed on him by his brother bishops. As soon
as the delegate mentioned + Demetri's name, she was greeted with shouts of "Sit
down", among others. To his credit, the Metropolitan called for order and
directed the delegates to allow her to speak. After she finished making the
motion, it was immediately seconded by numerous delegates throughout the hall.
Among the shouts from pro-Demetri delegates, came one of "A curse on your and
your family!" from a priest. Rather than allowing debate, +Philip spoke at some
length about forgiveness and told her that we could not declare people righteous
or unrighteous. At this point the new Chancellor, Dn. Sayegh, reading from some
notes, claimed that +Demetri had been restored to ministry by His Beatitude,
Patriarch Ignatius IV and +Philip backed up this claim.
When the delegate pointed out that a motion had indeed been made and even
seconded, +Philip cut off debate, refusing to entertain the motion and declaring
in Arabic, "Ma-beddi", and then in English, "I don't want to". That ended the
matter.
Frustration and Hope
As frustrating as the week may have been for proponents of reform, much good was
accomplished. Prior to the convention, for the first time in his episcopacy,
+Philip was forced to back down by uproar in America, and the Synod of Antioch,
admitting that the North American bishops were diocesan bishops and not his
auxiliaries. This is a momentous change in an Archdiocese that has had only one
undisputed leader for 40 years. At the convention two major steps toward reform
were then taken: barring those with criminal pasts from serving on the Board of
Trustees or the Local Synod, and directing the establishment of a committee to
draft a constitution that complies with both New York law and the Synod in
Damascus wishes. This resolution alone could portend greater changes, as the
Archdiocese is forced to comply with state regulations. Moreover, despite
opposition, serious questions were raised about the status of Bishop +Demetri.
Was he or was not he was restored to ministry by the Patriarch? Does the
Archdiocese still subscribe to the SCOBA Statement (which Philip signed) that
bars clergy convicted of sex ual misconduct from further pastoral service? (Read
that Statement here.) Given the level of concern surrounding the possible
reinstatement of a convicted sex offender to pastoral ministry, it is highly
unlikely that the Archdiocese has heard the last of this issue. (Read Fr.
Patrick Reardon's warning in the comment section about that here.)
Most importantly, for the first time, the need for administrative and financial
reform was placed before the Convention - contrary to the wishes of Metropolitan
Philip. In spite of his previous public statements lauding the newfound
"transparency" of the Orthodox Church in America, the Metropolitan has now gone
on record as being opposed to an independent audit of the financial dealings of
his own Archdiocese. Entrenched interests are adamantly opposed to financial
transparency - and they are not going to roll over. Going into this Convention,
proponents of reform knew that they were undertaking a struggle that would not
end easily or quickly. The fight to bring transparency to the OCA took many
years, much struggle and countless hours of prayer. The effort to do the same in
the Archdiocese will be no less difficult, but no less worthwhile.
- This article was written by two delegates to the Convention who wished to
remain anonymous, and edited by Mark Stokoe.)
Responses:
