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Published by the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America,
August 2, 2005
SCOBA Issues Statement on Sexual Misconduct
in the Church |
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August 2, 2005
The hierarchs of the Standing Conference of
Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA)
recently adopted a Statement entitled "Dealing
With Sexual Misconduct in the Church".
Prepared by the Social and Moral Issues
Commission of SCOBA, this Statement expresses
the seriousness with which the Orthodox Church
treats the issue of Sexual Misconduct within the
Church in a united voice, while also offering
pastoral guidelines concerning sexual misconduct
by members of the clergy and all who work in the
Church. This Statement is not intended to
supersede any specific jurisdictional
guidelines.
Dr. John Dalack, Chair of the Social and Moral
Issues Commission, presented the proposed
Statement to the hierarchs who unanimously
approved it. The Statement is available on the
SCOBA web site: www.scoba.us.
Dealing with Sexual Misconduct in the Church
“O God, great in power and inscrutable in
wisdom, wondrous in counsels above the sons of
men: Yourself, O Lord, fill with the gift of
Your Holy Spirit this man, whom You are pleased
to advance to the priestly ministry, that he may
be worthy to stand blamelessly before Your
Altar, to proclaim the Gospel of Your Kingdom,
to minister sacredly the word of Your truth, to
offer to You spiritual gifts and sacrifices, and
to renew Your people through the Font of
Regeneration, that when he shall go to meet You
at the Second Coming of our great God and Savior
Jesus Christ, Your Only-begotten Son, he may
receive the reward of a good stewardship of his
rank, according to the multitude of Your
goodness.” (The prayer of ordination)
Sexual abuse or misconduct will find no safe
haven within the Holy Orthodox Church. We, as
hierarchs of the Church, commit ourselves and
the resources at the Church’s disposal to ensure
that every child of God, of whatever age, may be
safe and secure within the bosom of the Church,
and that sexual predators will find no place
within her to carry out their crimes. Sin
thrives where there is darkness and secrecy, but
it cannot stand the light of truth and openness.
By pursuing truth and justice, by standing by
the victims of crime, by ensuring fair and due
process for everyone concerned, and by
facilitating repentance unto salvation, the
Church will be true to the God she serves and to
her faithful people.
While this statement concentrates on pastoral
guidelines concerning sexual misconduct by
members of the clergy--bishops, priests and
deacons--as the most visible representatives of
the Church, it should be understood that our
concerns apply to all those, who work in the
Church. Individual jurisdictions may wish to
adopt specific guidelines concerning others who
work in the Church and represent it.
Those who are given the gift of ordination by
God and His Church are chosen from the Body of
Christ, the community of faith, as persons who
have committed themselves to live in accordance
with the Gospel and who are willing to bear the
heavy responsibility to Christ for His flock.
They are responsible for their flock as a
shepherd is for his sheep, and to be good
shepherds they must be willing to lay down their
lives for the flock. But when a member of the
clergy chooses to follow his own way rather than
the way of the Shepherd, by sacrificing his
flock to his own desires, he becomes a wolf in
shepherd’s clothing, betraying Christ and the
flock the Church has entrusted to his care.
Furthermore, he betrays society at large, for
the Church is given to us for the life of the
world.
The Church of Christ is the battleground for the
unseen warfare of which the Fathers wrote. We
are called to “be perfect, as our Father in
heaven is perfect,” (Matt. 5:48). Yet, we also
know that “there is no one who lives and does
not sin.” The Church confronts and heals sin,
transfiguring and transforming us to be Christ’s
image and likeness. Through the healing power of
Christ, the Church brings sanctification and
salvation to a world fallen in sin. The Church
makes available the unchanging and eternal truth
of Christ, so that all those who belong to the
Church may walk in His light.
The temptation to sexual misconduct is one
battleground of this unseen warfare, made more
acute within a sex-saturated society where
sexuality and sexual images are used everywhere
for entertainment, for selling products, and for
recreation. Christ’s Church, the clergy, and all
those in positions of Church leadership and
trust have the moral responsibility of
safeguarding the sanctity of human sexuality. It
is the particular responsibility of the clergy
to aspire to a life of purity and holiness, so
that the light of Christ may shine through them.
The Gift and Responsibility of Sexuality
Orthodox Christians understand human sexuality
to be one important aspect of the whole mystery
of human personhood. As is evident from Holy
Scripture, human sexuality is intended to be a
sublime means of expressing mature and
self-giving love between a man and a woman
united in marriage, of deepening that love in a
communion of two lives, and of enabling a couple
to participate with God in the wondrous and
sacred work of creation of new life. It is
indeed a holy and good gift of our holy and good
God. As such, it must be treated as holy to the
Lord, and as something which has great potential
either for good or for harm.
To ensure that we use our sexuality for our good
and to minimize its potential for harm, God has
revealed through Holy Scripture its proper use:
that sexual expression is God-pleasing within
the larger framework of the freely agreed to,
life-long, committed relationship between a man
and a woman which is the mystery of marriage.
The Orthodox Church witnesses with the Holy
Scriptures and Holy Tradition that outside the
community of marriage the God-pleasing use of
our sexuality is found in the free choice of
abstinence. For some, this may be a temporary
state awaiting the formation of the mystical
union of marriage. For others, this may be the
narrow and demanding way of life-long commitment
to chastity.
Each of these God-pleasing ways of expressing
the sexual aspect of our human nature demands
that we humbly, freely and joyfully embrace the
“narrow way.” As in so many areas of human life,
choosing God’s way may be difficult and
continually calls for our radical repentance;
nonetheless, God’s way is ultimately liberating
and enables us to realize our full human
potential as children of God conformed to His
image and likeness.
Conversely, choosing the way of self-centered,
undisciplined and unbridled sexual indulgence
ultimately is life-destroying rather than
life-affirming in that sinfulness, in whatever
guise it takes, always leads us away from God,
the Source of Life. Sexual activity becomes
destructive and sinful whenever it is aimed
primarily at self-gratification rather than the
good of the other; whenever it is not within the
committed relationship of marriage between a man
and a woman; or whenever it is not entered into
freely.
The Clergy and Sexual Misconduct
While sexual misconduct is sinful and harmful
for any Christian, it is especially grave and
painful when the perpetrator is a clergyman,
because it so often entails a serious abuse of
the legitimate authority of the clergy within
the community of the Church, and because it
constitutes a betrayal of the trust placed in
the person by God, by God’s people, and by the
Church’s hierarchy. While every Christian is
called to the highest standard of conduct in
every aspect of life, the clergy—bishops,
priests and deacons— traditionally have been
held most strictly to this standard by Holy
Tradition and the Church’s canons. A serious sin
by a clergyman is not simply a personal matter;
it is an assault on the integrity of the entire
Church.
Clergy sexual misconduct carries even greater
potential for harm to its victims because of the
identity of the perpetrator. The relationship of
the clergyman to his parishioners is one of a
spiritual father to his spiritual children. The
clergyman’s authority carries with it an
inherent and often unrecognized power. Its depth
in this relationship is such that the victim, of
whatever age, never truly acts freely. Because
the predator is a clergyman, the healing
ministry of the Church to those victimized, so
based on trust and love, is undermined. The
victim’s very relationship with God and faith
itself can be severely shaken. The harm to the
victim is physical, psychological and spiritual.
We resolve to educate ourselves and our clergy
and laity about how we, as the Church, can help
victims receive healing. It is our hope and
prayer that by dealing swiftly and surely with
all those who have committed offenses and by
responding in a loving and appropriate manner to
the injured, we will encourage and aid the
survivors of abuse to continue their
relationship with God in Christ’s Holy Church.
We commit ourselves to the healing of parishes
wounded by clergy sexual misconduct. When a
clergyman acts inappropriately, he inflicts harm
not only on his victim but also his own family,
the victim’s family and other members of the
community. We will give the best possible
support to all those traumatized by such
misconduct.
The spiritual needs of the offending clergyman
must also be addressed. The Church will not turn
her back on these former clerics, if they repent
of their destructive behavior and receive
forgiveness, even though they can no longer
serve as clergy or in other positions of
authority. While energetically protecting
victims, the Church will work for the healing
and salvation of all who are affected.
We are aware that we need to examine carefully
how we choose and educate our clergy, with the
goal of preventing those who are likely to
offend from being ordained. All seminarians
should be educated with respect to the proper
boundaries and professional standards that a
clergyman must maintain.
It is recommended that seminaries conduct
background and criminal investigations on all
applicants. Criminal and background checks will
also be conducted on those who apply for
ordination. Parishes should be recommended to
conduct criminal and background checks on all
persons considered for all professional or
volunteer positions in the parish.
All these steps must be taken to ensure that the
Church as the Body of Christ will remain
faithful to her Lord in ministering to her
people. We reiterate the goal of this statement
that sexual abuse or misconduct will find no
safe haven within the Holy Orthodox Church. We
affirm that this statement reflects our common
mind, and we will make every effort to ensure
its implementation through the enactment of
appropriate policies in our respective
jurisdictions.
Contact:
SCOBA Office
8 East 79th Street
New York, NY 10021
Phone: 212-570-3593
Fax: 212-774-0202
Email: scoba@goarch.org
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