I have taken a day or two breather from the intrigue that is the OCA and wow tons has happened. Apparently Fr. Joseph Fester if not actually shown the door, had it was opened to him and that corporate walk out is a done deal. The unofficial 'official' mouth piece for all things OCA, the website OCA Truth during an early morning post May 2nd that Fr. Joseph Fester, former Chancellor of the Diocese of the South and Dean of the Metropolitan’s St. Nicholas Cathedral in Washington DC had been “released”. That entry has since been yanked from the Internet and other even less official reports indicate that he was simply “relieved of duty”.
There seems to be plenty of blame to go around. Even the FBI has been brought into the conflict. There are propped up theoretical law paradigms for all to consider. One quick note if there is any correspondence electronic or otherwise at a workplace any and all correspondences including voice mails, texts, instant chats, address books, contact information and emails are the property of the company. It is naive to assume otherwise. They have equated private and confidential as classified "under the seal of the confessional". The writer then requests that we all pull any such information out of "respect for the sacred bond of trust between a priest and his spiritual children". Well to me that is a dog and pony show. It is a head game and just an appeal to destroy evidence of unethical behavior and questionable judgment of leadership and those who seek to support such efforts. If the seal of the confessional was violated indeed then that is the jurisdiction of the victim, an advocate and spiritual court.
There are claims that there was not enough to take Fr. Joseph to spiritual court and yet time and time again the OCA has looked the other way. One such case would be Archpriest Peter Tutko who was 'granted retirement' in lieu of addressing his breaking the confessional, allegations of sexual indiscretion, and embezzlement. When locals tried for decades to get help Tutko was shielded by Arch Bishop Dmitri of the South who was blinded by his personal affection (no pun intended) for the disgraced priest. Later in his tenure the local Dean wouldn't answer letters or telephone calls. He was later defrocked for having relations with female parishioners. He and his Matuska believed they where sanctioned by God. The newest Dean grew up under the charisma of Tutko and didn't proceed further with investigations. The OCA did eventually a year later put a priest with one week experience in that parish which dwindled to 3-4 families. The OCA also eventually assisted the parish negotiated $400,000+ debt owed to a loan shark which resulted from arrangements make by Tutko.
So corruption was not confined to Syosset or the north. The small parish has since stabilized and refashioned itself.
Back to today...there have been retractions in the form of deleted entries and sentences that haven't made the final cut as it were. This story like many in the OCA are all about sources. "Sources in Chicago later confirmed that decision of the Metropolitan".
After much postering and cock fighting we will have to stay tuned to see if the chicken did in fact cross the road. For the record all confidential correspondences reposted here were taken directly from published sites public sites.
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