CANADA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Thursday, March 19, 2015
For more information: Melanie Jula Sakoda ( 925-708-6175 cell, melanie.sakoda@gmail.com ), Cappy Larson ( 415-637-2006 cell, cappy@rlarson.com ), David Clohessy ( 314-566-9790 cell, davidgclohessy@gmail.com )
Archbishop is “deceiving flock” group says
He’s been ousted and convicted of child sex crimes
Yet he’s started deceptive new website hiding those facts
SNAP: “Church officials should denounce him and warn congregants”
A support group for clergy sex abuse victims is urging Canadian Orthodox Church officials to order an archbishop who was convicted of child sex crimes to take down a deceptive new website. They are also begging them to publicly denounce the predator and warn their flocks about him.
Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are writing to the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) ruling body, the OCA’s synod of bishops, prodding them to inform church-goers that Archbishop Seraphim Storheim is “basically pretending he’s still head of the Canadian church.”
Last year, Storheim was convicted of sexually assaulting a boy who had come to visit him in Winnipeg in 1985. In October, his lawyer Jeff Gindin, said he’d appeal that verdict.
“According to Archbishop Seraphim’s new website, he is the ‘retired Archbishop of Ottawa,’” fumed Melanie Jula Sakoda of SNAP. “There is no mention of the fact that his retirement was the decision of the OCA’s synod and followed on the heels of his child sexual abuse conviction.”
“The site also omits telling its readers that in 2010 he was banned from administering the sacraments by that same synod,” added Cappy Larson, also of SNAP. “The archbishop even ignores the fact that the OCA has selected a new bishop for Ottawa!”
“When child predators are exposed, they do and say almost anything to maintain their power, prestige and access to kids,” said David Clohessy, the executive director of SNAP. “And when this happens, it’s crucial that other responsible adults share the truth and do everything possible to warn parents and the public about these dangerous and deceptive predators.”
SNAP wants the OCA to force Storheim to take down his website. They also want the bishops to publicly denounce the deception, and warn their members about the archbishop.
“Quite simply, Archbishop Seraphim’s site tries to legitimize him by listing him among the Orthodox bishops of Canada. He even positions himself at top of the list! The synod needs to put a quick end to this farce,” concluded Sakoda.
The URL for Storheim’s new website is http://archbishop-of-ottawa.org/
His list of Orthodox bishops in Canada can be found here: http://archbishop-of-ottawa.org/node/89
The text of SNAP’s letter, previously sent to the synod by email, is below, as is the list of hierarchs to whom it was sent.
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