Orthodox bishop refuses to yield

ALEX DEMARBAN

March 12, 2008 at 3:12PM AKST

Bishop Nikolai Soraich, head of the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Alaska, said in a press conference today he won’t leave the diocese until he’s deposed.

National church leaders have ordered him take a mandatory leave of absence and to leave Alaska while the church conducts an investigation stemming from claims by Alaska priests and parishioners that he’s intimidated and insulted them.

He held a press conference in Anchorage on March 12.

Before taking questions, Bishop Soraich read an opening statement. After the questions ended, he read a closing statement. Those statements are also on this Web site’s home page under the headline, "Bishop sees ‘mortal threat’ to Orthodoxy in North America."

Several reporters attended the press conference. Their questions are in bold, and are followed by the bishop’s answers.

Do you think a proper investigation can be done with you in power?

            The church provides for investigations in a very orderly manner. First of all, an investigation needs to begin once there is an allegation made against a bishop. There are no formal allegations that have been made and no formal investigation should ensue until that time. I’ll make this comment though: That on March 2, I asked the bishops of the Orthodox Church in America to help me – and you’ll get a copy of that letter in your packet too – to help me to work with those clergy who are concerned and bothered by some of these issues and the response that I got was the letter of March 4 telling me to take a leave of absence and to vacate the diocese.

How has this affected you personally and emotionally?

            I’m sure you can just imagine. How difficult to think that, I’d like to tell you that three weeks ago I would never have thought that this was an issue in the diocese. To see these things written on the Internet and in newspaper articles has been … devastating. I’m sure I look like I haven’t had much sleep because I haven’t. It’s very difficult to have such criticisms made of you when you feel that you’ve given your life to the best of your ability to do what God’s called to you do, but I took an oath as a bishop and I believe that that oath has to stand firm.

What do you think will happen to the faithful Orthodox in Alaska if you are forced to leave?

            I don’t want to deal with, you know, that situation. I think that that would be the wrong thing to do. I am here. I love my people and I will not abandon them. The church believes in reconciliation and working through issues and, I keep mentioning in all of my writings about Matthew 18, 15 to 17, and it talks about going to the one who’s offended you personally and if that doesn’t work then you bring a couple others with you and if that doesn’t work then you bring it to the whole church. I’ve not been good in teaching that. I think that if I would have been more forceful in that scriptural passage, in particular, then this wouldn’t have come to this point.

What are you doing to address the internal divisions?

            I opened a meeting last week of clergy in Alaska. I did not make it mandatory but invited clergy who wanted to come to discuss any of their situations or their issues and concerns and we had a very good turnout of clergy, and they were very open. I did not participate in the first day of the meeting because it needed to be done confidentially so they could bring up their questions and bring up their concerns. And the next day, we had I think it was almost a six-hour meeting. We talked about these things very openly. Every one of the clergy in the meeting spoke except one and that one conveyed his concerns through the person who was facilitating the meeting. It was very painful at times, very painful. I think sometimes, you know, we go through life and we don’t see things around us like we should but they need to be brought to our attention so we can make some corrections. As I said, I’m not perfect and I’m willing to make any kind of changes that are necessary for the faithful, but I can’t compromise who I am as a bishop and I can’t compromise the oath that I took in following the rules of the church.       

So what changes do you plan to make?

            I don’t plan to make any changes at this moment, other than I want to hear from my clergy first, all of them, so that we can come together and talk about how we can communicate better and discuss those issues that are pertinent to them. And from that point, then we can talk about what kind of changes need to be made.

You mentioned that what’s happened here is a historical moment, it’s never happened before. What’s changed so that this is happening? Is there simply a mistake on the part of the Lesser Synod?   

            It’s a big mistake. It’s a big mistake. The Orthodox Church is very clear in how it’s run as a hierarchical church. The canons of the church have a very clear and definitive way … to bring charges against anyone in the church, either lay persons and bishops, and the whole gamut from one end to the other, and that process has to be followed. For a Lesser Synod to have a meeting and then to have a phone conversation with the other bishops -- not even in conference -- and not to invite a member of the Holy Synod, which I am, of course is completely out of the order of the church.

So why would you be targeted? What is there to gain?

            For me or them?

 For them?

            Ha-hah. Good question. You know I can’t speak what’s in another person’s heart. You know there are things we talked about in the meeting last week, there are other issues that have been brought to my attention, you know both sides, the good and the bad. When I came to Alaska, it was a pretty loose diocese. There were 26 priests here and I think eight of them were suspended, and it was pretty loose over the years where they pretty much wanted to go where they wanted to go. And when they wanted to go, they did that. I brought order and implemented rules on services and when they should serve and how they should serve, and I will tell you that anyone who’s ever been here to visit, including my own clergy, would only tell you that, you know, it’s made everything much more beautiful, the light of the church. What does anyone have to gain by that? I don’t know, but what is the gain of going to the newspapers and the media and not coming to the person directly. I will tell you that I have never received any official notification. Any of those letters you’ve seen on the Internet, they were forwarded to me by others who copied them on the Internet, so you can draw your own conclusions from that, too, I suppose

Is there anything about your style you think that prompted these letters?

            Yes, of course, I think absolutely. I appear to be very intimidating, I think, from the standpoint of a lot of people. I’d like to think that I’m very loving and I think that my clergy, certainly the majority of my clergy, maybe even a larger number than that would certainly convey the same thing. And in situations where we’ve had to deal with problems with them … and I’m very forceful. I suppose all of those things are looked at as attributes that are not positive at times, and when you take a stand and especially when you say, ‘But the rules say this,’ and they say, ‘Well we’re going to change that rule,’ well, no one wants to hear that.       

At what point will you consider leaving?

            When I’m deposed.

 If there are formal allegations filed against you, what would you do?

            Then there’s a process. You know, we in America always brag about our judicial system and how everything is fair and there’s a process to go through, but the church has had a process for 2,000 years. This process by which charges are brought against a bishop comes from the Fourth Century. They’re not something new, and you’re going to get a copy of that actually in your packet, too, so you can read that. And there’s a lot of things in there for you to read and you might have some questions afterward about some of those things, even after you read them. I’d be happy to answer those, but the process has to be followed. I’m a stickler for following the rules, I think that in America we’re just too free to do what we want to do and we’re taught that if you don’t like it don’t do it. And our faith is not a buffet, where you come in and you pick this part of the faith you like and this part that you don’t like. It’s everything all together and we all struggle to work toward that.

What message would you have for rural Alaska that finds this so upsetting?

            The message is the same to everybody – that we need to focus ourselves on our Holy Scripture, the traditions of the church. We must stay focused. This is the Lenten period for us. This is the time when the evil one will try to distract as much as he can, in any way possible, and to stay focused on prayer, fasting and alms-giving and if we do that than we can come through this thing. In every adversity that all of us go through, and speaking personally in my own life, where there have been tribulations that have been just almost overwhelming, when it’s finally over and you come out it you come out of it as a better person and we’ll come out of this as a better church.

So where do you go from here?

            Well, I would hope, let’s see, that my brother bishops would respond to providing assistance so that we can begin, you know, reconciliation. I always believed from the very beginning that it would be good for outsiders to come and meet with those clergy who are somehow not happy about how things are, or they may be even afraid to discuss things with me. I’ve always felt that someone maybe from outside should do that, and I still would welcome that.

 When was the last time you spoke to your leaders and told them that you weren’t leaving and what was their reaction?

             That was, I believe, on March 5 in a letter that I wrote stating that – again, reaffirming my position here and again reaffirming what I was hoping to receive from them. You’ll notice that the letter that they sent predates it and goes, ‘March 4, I was ordered to leave.’ That is not true. On March 4, I was told to take a leave of absence and had 24 hours to respond and I responded on March 5. So I like to point those things out because I think they’re important for people to know (we’re) in a process. 

 

---

Alex DeMarban can be reached at (907) 348-2444 or (800) 770-9830, ext. 444.