This is my first post here so I will start slowly. I am not sure if this is the correct area. So, I will not mention the particular Monastery at this time.

I wish to collect additional information and verify my own experiences. In other words, I wish to prove that I am not crazy...

Has anybody experienced Monastic ritual abuse, brainwashing, sexual abuse in any Roman Catholic / Byzantine or Orthodox Monastery?

Last year I went on a spiritual Retreat at a new Monastery only to discover that it is more of Cult Setting. I have been Traumatized by the experience. I have over 20 years experience in my own church and have a Masters in Theology... Nothing prepared me for this. I still am not able to comprehend that an Abbot of a Monstery would try to get me to commit suicide!!!

- God was never mentioned.
- No Scripture reading (except during the liturgical services)
- No Rules were written but you had to follow them
- Brain washing
- Sleep deprivation
- lying
- I ask for a towel and they give me three (Hmmm, Holy Trinity?)
- telling you what you want to hear
- attempted to have me donate my car
- The Abbot was always right
- No sense of time
- Young Monks were very weak and controlled
- Everyone was called "Father" even though they were not ordained
- Mass marketing techniques...
- not allowed to talk to local people
- They used a scene from the Movie "AI"
- The Abbot suggested (brainwashing) that I commit suicide
- I am not allowed to come back...
- Others of my Church or Priests have never been there...
- They have a vow of poverty yet he drives a $55,000 truck
and so on...

I discoverd later that this same Abbot and his partner were part of a public scandal at our California Monastery.... where the former Abbot went insane and there was a major sex scandal. Officials from Rome had to fly in and had to take care of the situation.

We had a very weak Bishop and these two "Con men" manipulated our former bishop.... On paper all is legal....

I believe that they are a Cult and a scam which has nothing to do with God or helping people.... it's all about power, money and greed. I just happened to be there and saw what they were really doing.

My goal is to expose them and shut them down! I have discovered that this is a difficult task.


Sincerely,

John PW
Illinois

Your description of the situation sounds like a classic cult situation. Cults are not all UFO's and Indian meditation. Sometimes in the oldest institutions of organized religion, a cultish figure with charm will move in on their territory and take over a piece of land.

If this is the Roman Catholic church, contact your cardinal. If the cardinal is weak too, then go over his head, to Vatican City. If [i:95b028942f]they[/i:95b028942f] don't help, then may Jesus help us all.

The URL for this site is [www.pokrov.org]

You'll need to pull your courage together.

I know some of the people at the pokrov.org website and they tell me that many people have called them describing dreadful situations, but are afraid to give them them sufficient information to document the situation.

And some of the callers will even try to get them to play guessing
games, as in 'I cant tell you the name of this abusive person or monastery, but WILL tell you X, Y and Z. Try and guess who it is.'

Guessing games are NOT enough to clean up abuse. You'll have to find some courage.

There is so much respect for clergy and monastics in the Byzantine and Orthodox churches that people are easily intimidated and take much too long to speak up.


Write a chronology (who what when where) describing everything you saw, who was involved (as actors, victims, and witnesses) when (time, date) and where (location of monastery, its affiliation, and what part of the monastery the action took place.)

First thing is find out if the abbot's credentials are legitimate, or if he created bogus credentials and is running around loose on his own. The Orthodox churches and Byzantine churches are such a jurisidictional jungle that an eccentric on a power trip can create his own cult--in the Roman Church the local Bishop can crack down immediately, send a pastoral letter to all parishes warning that X is counterfeit.

There's a Byzantine monastery near Ukiah that had an odd history. I dont know if there are others.

Problem is in both Byzantine and Orthodox churches, each bishop over sees large tracts of territory, and its impossible to monitor problems--unless more people speak up.

Thank you for your reply... I will have to go to the top. By any chance do you have Jesus' address?

The Monastery I am talking about is in Eagle Harbor Michigan

[www.societystjohn.com]

It is under the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Catholic Diocese in Chicago.

We shall see if the Vatican responds. I have had no luck with my new bishop and arch-bishop...



The love of "Fruitcake" is the root of all evil!

They follow the rule of St. Benedict. I was curious and I found this one passage and post it here as an example. I hope they do not follow this rule.

45. Concerning Those Who Make Mistakes in the Oratory
If any one, in saying a psalm, response, or antiphone or lesson, male a mistake; unless he humble himself there before all, giving satisfaction, he shall be subjected to greater punishment, as one who was unwilling to correct by humility that in which he had erred by neglect. But children, for such a fault, shall be whipped.
[www.fordham.edu]

cult
even the website is scary
im surprised you didnt leave immediatly- as soon as you realized things were not right
i admire tour desire to report this group and get them shut down
who knows how far something like this could go ?
ive learned that these cults are even capable of murder and or torrrture
im glad you are out

liz

Yes, you have every right to believe that this monastery is a cult. You don't say what church this monastery belongs to, but could it be any of the 16 Greek Orthodox monasteries created by a monk Ephraim?

PLEASE do not be silent about what you saw and experienced at this monastery as silence only increases the cultic following and abuse in monasteries.

For more information, please contact the people at
[www.pokrov.org] as they monitor abuse, both cultic and sexual, within all parts of the Orthodox Church.

You can also find information about the Ephraim cult on the
[www.culteducation.com] web site.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I visited the site [www.societystjohn.com,] and I don't see anything scary or cultish. Of course, if someone has seen evidence of cultish or spiritual abuse, they absolutely should speak up. But what on their site is a clear indication of cult-like activity?

Possibly I see monastery retreats a little differently than some - I've attended meditation retreats at Buddhist temples, and see nothing wrong with noble silence, community meals, and the forbidding of radios, televisions, and excessive social interaction. Of course, such concepts can be used in either a healthy or unhealthy environment, but I found it a little odd that Liz was instantly convinced it was a cult by looking at their website.

i guess everything depends on where youve been
or where you are coming from in life

Being a nyc girl having spent the last 25 years living in the west village, that webiste just scares me - Perhaps
nyc life might scare the monks there as well.
Also having read what was posted about the place
certainly influenced me too. Did you take a lokk at the
subtle way they let you know they are in need for donations.

In any event ,the monks will not be seeing me on their retreat.

LIz

Forgive me but God did not give me the Gift of Articulate clear writing or speaking at this time...

I also did not notice it at first on the website or when I was there until the Third night when it hit me like a ton of Bricks what they were doing...

I won't quote anything from their website so I wont be in violation of any copyright law.... Again, these guys are really good, I mean really good Con men....

Some more examples:

Fruit Cake! This is NOT A Byzantine tradition. Nor is it to lace it with Jack Daniels. (I am not Anti-Alcohol...) And it's only $80... But hey this is America.

They do NOT have a Vow of Poverty... This place is Nicer than some 5 Star Hotels I stayed at... At first I thought this was nice and wonderful but I got tired of hearing them say "But we are Monks and have taken a vow of poverty. What we have is given to us by God." I've also been to Dozens of Monasteries but never like this one... The kitchen stove is probably valued at $3,000.

They are good with the "Guilt"... They focus on Rich people and know how to keep ordinary people out. They screen people who go there. They tried it on me but I went anyway because I wanted to see our new Monastery. I sang for his Deaconate Ordination in Chicago but never met them...

Latinization of our Byzantine Rite: I won't go into this.

I sensed the fear in their eyes... And No it's not because I'm crazy...

I was the first and only Ukrainian to visit this place because "They don't want to come up here."

I had 20 plus years of Music singing (Cantoring) in my Church... yet the Abbot said "No" when I offered to give the young Monks music lessons... None of them were able to sing first voice. And everything was in a minor key. Our liturgy in in the Major key.

Their piano was "Better than a Steinway..."

These guys were rejected by the RC Church for 10 years... We had a weak Bishop and they got in...

I'm not bragging here but I do have a Masters in Theology, I'm Ukrainian and Byzantine.... If I had a different opinion (even fact) about something the Abbot told me I was wrong...

He kept bringing up the Black Racist card. I did not even know he was Black.

I offered to wash the Dishes and he said "No".... because I am not part of their community...

I said I would come back with my family in the spring because it was a nice place and he said "I don't think so" and gave back an Icon I lent them.

They were talking about an Iconographer... I knew of one but they were not interested.

Christ never took away our Free Will... Here, one had to give up ones free will through obedience...

Fr. Nicholas never really spoke in the First person... it was alway "God", Some Saint or other person.... Hmmm?

They now have a 1.5 Million Dollar Monastery.... for 5 guys... I know if they were audited they find that these guys raked in about 7 - 10 million so far.

The young Monks wore poor clothing for such winter conditions.

I was not allowed to speak privately with the young Monks even though they were in their 30's...

I did not take a picture of the place even though I love to take pictures... Again, I've taken pictures of Dozens of Monasteries.... Here I only have a picture of the Moon.

Ok, here's how they do it: they keep you up there for a week and WHAMO! Your'e donating everything you got to them for the "Glory of God" because they are "Monks and have taken a vow of poverty."

26,000 mailing list. I'm not on it...

"A Catholic Monastery of the Byzantine Rite". I don't think too many of you will get this one... Any Scholars out there?

While in the Monastery I was unable to speak. I mean I lost my voice. Only when the three young innocent Monks were in the room was I able to speak... This never happened to me before. I know now why...

Fr. Nicholas and Fr. Basil would give hand signals to each other... I never saw both of them at the same time in frontal view...

Fr. Basil would roll his eyes... it started to anoy me....

They never visited other Byzantine Monasteries except for the one in California. [www.byzantines.net]

This is where the SCANDAL (End of World, Power and sex) occured and these two guys were involved. I found this out later... The summer Sheptytsky Institute had to cease. The previous Abbot went insane and thought it was the end of the world...

They were all called "Father" even though they were NOT all ordained to the priesthood.

Hah, this one is funny but one of the young monks did not know how to cut up a chicken for Dinner... Fr. Basil had to show him.

They both lied...

Ok, now. Here is the challenge. Go up there for a one week visit and come back. Let me know what you think and we can compare notes.

John PW

John,

On the one hand, the fact that these monks were associated with Mount Tabor before the cleanup would concern me.

On the other hand, a good proportion of what you write in both your emails makes no sense to me, or, in my opinion, fails to demonstrate the presence of cult-like activity at the monastery.

For example, offensive Latinization (I just have to drive 45 minutes to the nearest Maronite church for this), expensive monastic fruitcake (another Latinization... <grin>), and referring to non-ordained monks as "father" (I thought this is proper Greek, liturgically speaking, usage; is it not in the UGCC?)--but anyway, so what?