"tangled web" More Critical Information & -Valuable Platina Monastery History-

FW: Sharing: "tangled web" More Critical Information & -Valuable Platina Monastery History-    Inbox  Daniel Everiss

Dan Everiss <oregdan@hotmail.com> Fri, Jun 15, 2012 at 12:27 PM To: Dan Everiss <oregdan@hotmail.com> Reply | Reply to all | Forward | Print | Delete | Show original   Category: Historical information about the fall of former ROCOR Platina Monastery, and also criticisms of 'Gordon-Gerasim Eliel', to be .... consecrated as a new OCA bishop, etc.   WHY should we....... care?   Because this factual accounting, tells us a lot of truth, about what actually happened to OUR St. Herman of Alaska, Platina monastery, in northern California, co-founded by our saintly Fr. Seraphim (Rose) and , a monastery once  the pride and joy of our Russian Church Abroad, but brought down to destruction by it's former rebellious abbot,  Herman Podmoshensky, who is still alive, unrepentant, but in poor health & wheel-chair bound, living in a mobile home owned by the monastery, down the mountain from the monastery, in  the tiny town of Platina & cared for by monastery brothers. He still legally owns the monastery property! but recognizes no living bishop, 'only St. John Maximovitch in Heaven'. From all that I personally know of all of this, MESS, and I unfortunately know too much!,  this account is exactly the truth, sad to say. Rd. Daniel Everiss   Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2012 08:00:51 -0400 From:  Subject: Fwd: tangled web From: "j.mceachen" <jmcea@optonline.net> To: "j.mceachen" <jmcea@optonline.net> Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2012 8:20:29 PM Subject: tangled web Speaking about this book length 'Biographical Sketch' by  'Gordon-Eliel'- Abbot Gerasim" (link is below)-    Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive!  Sir Walter Scott   This is a muddled, confusing, even narcissistic, self-serving autobiography. I have never read anything like it. But the below analysis, done by a lifelong Russian Orthodox man formerly of Ansonia, CT, is only a slightly less confusing summary.    I would not be as emphatic as Nick is in his conclusion, but wading through all or most of these tomes would certainly cause me to PASS on this man. Notice, there is no indication within of any graduations, much less a baccalaureate degree buried anywhere therein.     http://dosoca.org/files/esc/Gerasim.BiorevisedMarch14_27_2009.pdf     Stop the railroad in the DOS (i.e. the OCA's 'Diocese of the South')-

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After reading the lengthy Biographical Sketch (above,) updated by Abbot Gerasim 

(Eliel) on June 6, 2011 AND reading that the DOS Episcopal selection committee has
decided to submit only one name for consideration, I came away disappointed in
the person reflected in the Biographical Sketch. Clearly, the interaction
between the Holy Order of Mans (HOOM), Christ the Saviour Brotherhood, St.
Herman of Alaska monastery at Platina, CA, the long time abbot of the monastery
Fr.Herman , aka Gleb Podmoshensky, and of course, the primary person of interest
, Abbot Gerasim, aka Gordon Eliel is extremely complex and confusing. Abbot
Gerasim's lengthy biography did little to make it easier to comprehend the
various plots, sub plots, characters and actions involved.

This chronological summary may make things easier to understand.

1968. HOOM founded by Earl Blighton. Discussion of the cultish beliefs of HOOM
are for another time.
1969. St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood founded by Gleb Podmoshensky (later
Fr.Herman) and Eugene Rose (later Fr.Seraphim).
1970-May. Fr.Pangratios Vrionis pleads guilty to counts of sodomy and one
count of corrupting the morals of a minor.
1970. Pangratios deposed by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese.
1974. Blighton dies.
1978. Vincent Rossi assumes control of HOOM.
1978. Jonestown massacre in Guyana . Over 900 cult members dead in mass
suicide/murder.
1979. Gordon Eliel enters the University of California, Santa Cruz.
1980. March 25. Eliel received into Orthodoxy at the St.Nicholas Russian
Orthodox (Moscow Patriarchate) in San Francisco.
1981. July 28. Gordon Eliel arrives at St.Herman monastery, Platina, CA
(ROCOR). He came to visit and stayed . He did not return to UCSC.
1982-Prior to. ROCOR makes charges of moral improprieties against Fr. Herman.
1982. Fr. Seraphim Rose dies.
1983- Spring. Fr.Herman, Eliel, and others from the Platina monastery attempt to
take over Monk's Lagoon in Alaska. They are rebuffed by OCA Archbishop Gregory
and Fr.Joseph Kreta.
1983- Late. Vincent Rossi, of HOOM, meets with Fr.Herman (Podmoshensky).
1986- Early. Fr.Herman (Podmoshensky) accepted under the omophorion of Bishop
Benedict, aka Samuel A.Greene, into the Archdiocese of Vasilopopulis under
Metropolitan Pangratios Vrionis. No Orthodox church recognized Pangratios as a
bishop and his diocese of Vasilopoulis as being canonical.
1988. July 12. ROCOR deposes Fr.Herman.
1988. HOOM "converts" to Orthodoxy under deposed and non-canonical Metropolitan
Pangratios.
1992. Novice Eliel is tonsured a monk by deposed priest Herman. Valid or
invalid??
1993. Winter. Monk Jonah goes to Russia under the auspices of the Valaam
Society, which is a part of the Christ the Saviour Brotherhood, to work on
Russky Palomnik.
1994. Dec.19. Monk Gerasim Eliel is ordained a deacon by Metropolitan John in
St.Petersburg, Russia.
1994. Dec. 23. Monk Deacon Gerasim is ordained to the priesthood by Metropolitan
John in St. Petersburg, Russia.
1999. Fr.Benedict Greene is indicted for child abuse. Benedict left the
Archdiocese of Vasilopoulis and was received into ROCOR in 1991 as a priest.
1999. Metropolitan Pangratios' criminal record is made public via the Internet.
2000. Holy week. Podmoshensky forced to step down as Abbot of the Platina
monastery.
2000. Nov.27-28. Platina accepted into the Serbian Orthodox church.
2000. Nov. 28. Fr. Gerasim (Eliel) elevated to Abbot of the Platina monastery.
2009. Fr.Gerasim moves to the OCA presumably at the request of his old friend
Metropolitan Jonah .

I realize that there were other significant occurrences that happened in this
time period but the above are the most pertinent to this discussion.

From the above, we can see that Fr.Gerasim Eliel did not exactly observe proper
Orthodox order and canonical practices in numerous instances including:

1. He served with suspended Abbot Herman from 1983 to 1988.
2. He served with deposed Abbot Herman from 1988-2000.
3. He served in a schismatic and non-canonical monastery from 1983-2000.
4. He was tonsured a monk by a deposed priest.
5. He was ordained to the priesthood by a foreign bishop who was acting on false
information provided by a deposed priest. Monk Gerasim was aware of all this.
6. He committed a criminal act by breaking into and entering an Alaskan
monastery church illegally.

Some of the "irregularities" are obvious on its face. However, I think some
additional comments are in order.

Novice (Eliel) exercised very bad judgement during Great Lent 1984 (p.16-17 of
the biography) when Eliel learned about the suspension of Abbot Herman for
disobedience.
Apparently, Herman was charged with sexual improprieties by ROCOR but the
sentence was mitigated to a suspension for disobedience. On p.17, Fr. Gerasim
says…….
"all of the monks who remained at the monastery left for Medford, Oregon".

Well, not all. Eliel and Monk John stayed.

Fr. Gerasim further states…"We were very confused about what to do".

QUERY: Why was Eliel confused? The other monks were not "confused". It was a
no-brainer. The other monks took the only reasonable and honorable route and
left the schismatic and non-canonical monastery. Eliel stayed in schism.

If Fr.Gerasim was confused and didn't know what to do in a case with such a
seemingly simple resolution, how can we trust Gerasim's discretion when faced
with the inevitable problems that he would regularly encounter in the
performance of his duties as Diocesan Bishop?

Eliel's ability to think rationally is shown again in his agreement to be
ordained by a metropolitan six thousand miles away. In December 1994, when the
ordination took place, Monk Gerasim was serving under a deposed priest in a
non-canonical jurisdiction, headed by a deposed Metropolitan not recognized as a
bishop by any Orthodox church.

Fr. Gerasim skims over this canonical irregularity by admitting…..
"Afterwards, Abbot Herman and Archimandrite Innokenti (Veniaminov) had persuaded
Metropolitan John of St. Petersburg to perform the ordination of several monks
of our monastery. THEY HAD OBVIOUSLY BLURRED THE REALITY OF OUR MONASTERY'S
CANONICAL STATUS AND THAT OF OUR `BISHOP'" ( Caps are mine).

What a clever way of saying that they lied to the Metropolitan so that the
ordination was performed under false pretenses. Invalid ordination??????

Is this the kind of conduct we can expect from a newly consecrated Bishop
Gerasim?

In discussing the turmoil caused by the disclosure of the criminal record of
Metropolitan Pangratios in 1999, Fr. Gerasim says on p. 27……
"It was now crystal clear that we were in schism from the Church primarily
because Abbot Herman was a fugitive from ecclesiastical justice, from
accountability to his bishop."

Unbelievable. Hello. Anyone there? It was crystal clear years ago that the
monastery and it's members were in schism. No amount of rationalization can
alter that.

Is Fr.Gerasim really suitable to be Bishop of the Diocese of the South?

The two primary scriptural references that are generally cited to illustrate the
desirable qualities of a bishop are found in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:7-9.
Look what Timothy says.

"A bishop then must be blameless, ……of good behaviour----not a novice, lest
being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.
Moreover, he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he
fall into reproach and the snare of the devil."

St. John Chrysostom said…."every virtue implied in this word. The bishop's life
should be unspotted so that all should look up to him……"

Several questions to ask…

1. Is the record of Fr.Gerasim blameless?
2. Does he have a proven record of "good behaviour"?
3. Is his life "unspotted"?

Finally, Fr.Gerasim's record of jurisdiction hopping must be considered. He was
brought into Orthodoxy by a priest in the Moscow Patriarchate; shortly after, he
became a novice at the Platina monastery for years when it was under the ROCOR:
he was schismatic for many years without any bishop and finally with a
schismatic and non-canonical bishop; then when it came time to find a canonical
church in 2000, he, along with other members of Christ the Saviour Brotherhood
approached the Jerusalem patriarchate and the Church of Georgia. The OCA was not
considered, presumably because they were on the "new calendar" and were thought
of in a very bad light because of the years spent under ROCOR. And yet, after
exhibiting an anti-OCA attitude for years (see his deliberate provocations
against the OCA at Monk's Lagoon in Alaska) and holding the OCA in the worst
possible light for so many years, all it took to wrench the Abbot away from the
Platina monastery was a phone call from an old friend who apparently offered him
an entry into the OCA episcopy. Is this to be the primary qualification for the
episcopy, i.e. that he is a long time friend of the first hierarch?

In short, although I have no vote in this matter, my vote would be a resounding
..NO.

ANAXIOS.

Nicholas Skovran, Sr.
June 14, 2012

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