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An investigation reported on February 9, 2006 of St. Anthony's Monastery in Arizona by KVOA Tucson is featured below which obviously and understandably shows a lot of misunderstanding about Orthodox monasticism, but also sheds light on some authentic concerns of how this monastery refuses to confront the concerns and possible misunderstandings of hundreds with open communication. If the monastery can't openly communicate its mission, then it only leaves one to wonder what it has to hide.
Related links:
St. Anthony's Orthodox Monastery in Arizona
A Greek Pilgrim Visits St. Anthony's Monastery in Arizona
Related links:
St. Anthony's Orthodox Monastery in Arizona
A Greek Pilgrim Visits St. Anthony's Monastery in Arizona
Way to go, Bradley Nassif (and the archdiocese)!!! If only they had allowed him to explain what is normal and what isn't. That would allow a more objective analysis of St. Anthony's. Many of the objections of the parents (who may well have other objections!) could also be said about the Marines. These are quite different from real objections like (allegedly) teaching people to whip themselves and propagating the Protocols of Zion. Your point about the need for communication is excellent. This is someone's opportunity for evangelism.
ReplyDeleteWhat this shows is an ignorance of monasticism in the Church. The father who complained about only being able to read what they are told to read well that is monasticism. Monasticism is counter cultural and other worldly. I fault our churches for not educating her poeple enough about the monastic life.
ReplyDeleteNow I am not supporter of what goes on and maybe the stories are true and I have heard some stories like this as well from clergy as well as lay people. But the bottom line is what Dr. Nassif said this is the extreme of Orthodoxy not main stream. Monasticism is important in the church and obviously we need to do a better job of educating our people.
Just my 2 cents
John i found this on a website talking about this video: i cant validate it, but be it as it may, here it is...interesting all the same.:
ReplyDeletepaste and copied as it was found
------------------------------------ samlawhorn (1 month ago) Spam
Some interesting developments since the KVOA investigation:
1. Niko Pantanizopoulos left the monastery with the Elder's knowledge. Nobody held him there. His parents, John and Joann, have since expressed regret at having participated in the video. John himself told me (and I quote loosely), "We tried for years to find dirt on the Elder Ephraim. We couldn't find any. Every time we thought we'd found something, it would turn out that the people making the claims were nuts." He also encouraged his son to maintain contact with the monastery and the Elder.
2. Paul Aleck also left the monastery...to go to another monastery. This was also done with the Elder's knowledge, as well as his blessing. Paul made the move not to escape the monastery, but to escape his overbearing mother.
samlawhorn (1 month ago) Spam
(...continued from previous comment...)
...began performing an exorcism on the entire monastery in the middle of the courtyard, prophesying against it in the process. It was really, really interesting. The monks, for their part, don't typically go to other people's houses for the purpose of prophesying against them. It's the little things like that which tend to add up to big differences.
7. I lived at that monastery for 9 years and offered KVOA an interview before they ran their story. They declined. I think they were too busy counting chapels and trying to make 76 to 93 million equal 13 million.
In light of these facts, I'd like to recommend KVOA for an award for investigative excellence and for a promotion within the community of super sleuths. Perhaps something in national security?
samlawhorn (1 month ago) Spam
(...continued from previous comment...)
4. Mary Lou Aleck's husband does not appear alongside her because he disagrees with her and supports his son.
5. Aside from a letter or two to the bishop, I don't know of any major appeals within the church by Mary Lou other than bribing the monks with her fantastic enchiladas and hominy, which she often brought to the monastery for the monks to eat. That woman is a wonderful cook, God bless her.
6. Ashley Nevins, the only non-Orthodox parent in the video, does not agree with his son being there primarily on religious grounds. Mr. Nevins is a Pentecostal of sorts, and his beliefs and practices concerning Christianity do not align with those of the monastery. For example, Mr. Nevins once visited the monastery and
ReplyDeletesamlawhorn (1 month ago) Spam
The following are indicative of the KVOA team's investigative prowess:
1. "A Call from the Holy Mountain," the book from which the antisemitic comments were taken, was neither written nor spoken by the Elder Ephraim, despite the claims found in the introduction of that book. Rather, it was written by monks of a now defunct monastery in Blanco, Texas, that was at one time Episcopalian, another time Catholic, and another time Russian Orthodox. To add authoritative weight to their own concoction, they attributed the book to the highly respected Elder--a clever move considering that he does not speak English and was thus not likely to read or dispute it.
2. The Elder probably didn't give KVOA an interview because, oh yeah, he doesn't speak English.
3. A nice Jewish family, the Mandells, helped the Elder get the monastery property and handled his faxes for the first year or so of operation, before the monastery had phone lines.
samlawhorn (1 month ago) Spam
Some hilarious parts of this video:
1. The investigators skew John (Scott) Nevins photo to make him look skinnier.
2. The "secretive" and "mysterious" monastery invited the investigators (along with the rest of the general public) to visit. Wow. Really mysterious.
3. After an eight-month, intensive investigation, the investigators counted four chapels on the grounds (at the time there were seven).
4. The licensed contractor estimate those four chapels to be each worth 5 or 6 million. The out-buildings (of which there were 11 at the time, not including the garden workshops) were also said to be worth 5 million. The landscaping he estimates at 1 million. Adding it all up, he gets 13 million. (Remind me not to get an estimate from this contractor.)
I know a few of those comments aren't true, "A Call From The Holy Mountain" was written by Elder Ephraim, and Elder Ephraim can certainly find a translator.
ReplyDeleteI mean't 'Counsels from the Holy Mountain"/
ReplyDeleteAll of these petty accusations and innuendo against the monastery is clearly the work of demons! And the fathers have better things to do with their precious time than responding to every crazy remark out there. They spend their time working, praying and helping the hundreds of thousands that come for counsel and spiritual comfort.
ReplyDeleteI am the author of the note on those videos that says that the Elder Ephraim did not write "A Call from the Holy Mountain." It most certainly is true that he did NOT write that book. As you pointed out, he wrote "Counsels from the Holy Mountain." They are two completely different books. The former is a light brown booklet. The latter is a large, red book (in hardbound) and features a picture of Mount Athos in softbound. Thank you for re-posting the comments, though. I have read and heard more ridiculous accusations against a very kind, humble, venerable old man than I can recount on the web.
ReplyDeleteFrom Ashely Nevins, father of Scott Nevins:
ReplyDeleteOn Sunday night June 10th and at approximately 2:45 AM Scott Nevins took his life at St. Anthony monastery in Az. He was 27 years old and had been in the cult for 6 years prior to recently leaving. The cult stole 6 years of his life and did great harm to him emotionally and spiritually.
Thank you David. If you are in a position to do so, would you apologize on behalf of sympathetic Orthodox to the Nevins family for what is being said all over the Internet apparently regarding Scott's death? The recent comments here seem to me to be quite inappropriate and callous under the circumstances.
DeleteRegardless of who may be at fault, this is a great loss and tragedy for the family, and they deserve our prayers and compassion. May Scott's memory be eternal! May he not have died in vain. May his death call attention to any neglect or abuse to which he may have been subject on the part of the institutions of the Greek Orthodox Church that healing may come, and may light shine on the true nature of the monasticism being practiced in the so-called Ephraimite monasteries, whatever that may be.
As someone who has seen the pernicious effects of spiritual abuse in different Protestant contexts and had opportunity to study the matter from a closer perspective than I would have liked, I know that it is a real danger *wherever* any spiritual authority is exercised. If we are familiar with the monastic literature of the Orthodox tradition, we know that Fathers such as St. Mark the Ascetic and St. John of the Ladder warned of the possible perversions of the spiritual life even in the monastery--one might say, especially in the monastery--and of the particular dangers of prelest. Let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall.
Just because a monastery has certain things canonically in order does not mean its leaders cannot be spiritually unhealthy and operating in a cult-like or abusive manner. To believe otherwise is profoundly naive, even of our own Orthodox Christian tradition. Do we believe even our Holy Bishops are incapable of error or failing? If not, why would we not understand that this is possible of monastic Elders, Abbots, and Abbesses as well? I have seen an video interview with Elder Ephraim at Holy Cross Seminary. I must confess I found the Elder's body language in this video recording profoundly restless, odd, and disturbing. It was certainly not what I would have expected of someone who is full of the Holy Spirit.
He wasn't in a cult. He was mentally disturbed and was given hospitality to help him, but his mental state was beyond what anybody could do for him, including his own family... that and he was a frequent narcotic abuser.
ReplyDeleteI agree with "Anonymous." Also, regarding the "cult" accusation: "The Monastery belongs ecclesiastically and canonically to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America through the Metropolis of San Francisco under Metropolitan Gerasimos."
ReplyDelete