CANADA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Tuesday, March 25, 2014
For more information: Melanie Jula Sakoda ( 925-708-6175 cell, melanie.sakoda@gmail.com ), Cappy Larson (cappy@rlarson.com), David Clohessy ( 314-566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com )
Victims’ group blasts Orthodox Church officials
Synod of bishops “retires” convicted archbishop
He was accused of molesting two 11 year old boys
“Retiring is what happens to an older person,” victims say
SNAP: “Censuring, punishing, denouncing is what should happen to a criminal”
Members of an abuse survivors’ group are angry that Orthodox Church officials are refusing to defrock Canada’s highest ranking archbishop who was found guilty of molesting a child in January.
Last week, leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, wrote to the Synod of Bishops begging them to defrock the convicted cleric. Instead, at a meeting late last week, Orthodox Church in America (OCA) officials opted to ‘retire’ the child molesting archbishop.
[SNAP]
SNAP leaders believe the OCA’s sexual misconduct policy calls for the church hierarchy to permanently oust Archbishop Seraphim Storheim from ministry. The guidelines, approved by the OCA’s synod at their Fall 2013 meeting, state that “Any clergy … found to have committed child sexual abuse … shall be deposed by the Holy Synod of Bishops, and shall be permanently prohibited from exercising any functions or responsibilities of parish ministry. …”
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