Thursday, March 15, 2007

Three More American Clerics Left ROAC

(Vertograd, New York)

Three more American clerics have left ROAC. Archimandrite Ephraem left with St. Barbara's Monastery (New Jersey), Protopriest Michael Fresco left with the church of St.Maximus (California) and Deacon Nicholas Stanoschek left with the church of St.Basil of Kineshma (Colorado) that was the first parish of ROAC in America.

According to some sources Archimandrite Ephraem has already become a bishop in some "Hellenic True Orthodox Church".

Several years ago ROAC had more them 20 clerics in the USA. The failure of the mission of ROAC in America is connected with an unfortunate "personnel policy" of the First Hierarch of ROAC Metropolitan Valentine. At first he consecrated as a bishop of Colorado a scandalous and very unpopular Archimandrite Gregory (Abu-Assaly), and after Archbishop Gregory left ROAC, Metropolitan Valentine consecrated as a bishop inanimate Andrew (Maklakov).

Now Bishop Andrew has the following clergy: retired Protopresbyter Vladimir Shishkoff (he is not able to serve), Archpriest Fotios Roseboro (he was ordained two years ago and shortly after the ordination he was made a Archpriest by Metropolitan Valentine), and two priests that were received less than a year ago from ecumenical jurisdictions where they had been forbidden because of canonical problems (Father Elias Greer of GOARCH and Father Isaac Henke of AAOA).