The Truth About Fr. Herman Podmoshensky
The facts on Fr. Herman are as follows:
1. Father Herman was suspended from the priesthood in 1984 in the wake of homosexual allegations against him, violated the suspension, and called to spiritual court in 1988 to answer for himself, but failed to appear. He was then deposed from the priesthood in 1988 for disobedience, returned to the status of a monk, but ignored the deposition and caused a schism in the western diocese of the ROCOR.
2. Most of the monks left his monastery after he was deposed, but Fr. Gerasim and Fr. Damascene stayed with Father Herman and disobeyed the ROCOR (proving their lack of discernment and disobedience). Father Zacharias (now Fr. Nicholas), Father Paisius and Father John Marler are three other monks that were with Father Herman in his schism. Father John elected to stay with Father Herman for sometime after he was informed of the canonical problems with this group, but eventually left. I don’t have a complete record of all the monks who belonged to Father Herman’s schism, but I know that there was also a Brother Moses.
3. Years after Fr. Herman was deposed, he continued his sexual impropriety, admitted by Fr. Gerasim.
4. In his deposed and schismatic state, Fr. Herman united himself with an absolutely fake jurisdiction called Holy Orthodox Archdiocese of Vasiloupolis (which was neither holy or Orthodox), founded by a deposed and convicted sexual child predator and homosexual named Metropolitan Pangratios Vrionis. When this miscreant was deposed by the actual Orthodox Church, he made himself a bishop by his own unilateral authority (which is totally uncanonical), and literally invented his own jurisdiction in der Luft (out of the air). Fr. Herman, Fr. Gerasim, and Fr. Damascene united themselves with this deposed criminal instead of with Christ and his Church, proving their lack of marbles, and once again demonstrating their disdain for the canonical rules of the Orthodox Church. Since Fr. Damascene and Fr. Gerasim have proven themselves to suffer from impaired judgment, and contributed to the hurt and deception of many sincere people for many years, I do not believe that they should have ever been ordained to the priesthood. Instead of obeying Christ and his Church, they remained in schism for a decade, and sided with a deposed homosexual abbot, and united with another deposed priest (also a homosexual), and convicted child molester, who invented his own jurisdiction. The Orthodox Church often makes mistakes by ordaining the wrong people. Father Gerasim and Father Damascene were elevated by the OCA (Fr. Gerasim), and the Serbian Orthodox Church (Fr. Damascene), both of which are Ecumenist and Modernist jurisdictions, so these elevations should not surprise anyone. This monastery has a history of controversy and dysfunctionality, and it continues to this day in the abbacy of Fr. Damascene. Further, several years ago I met a psychologist and he told me that he has counseled people at this monastery. Why are Orthodox monks going to a secular/non-Orthodox psychologist? Additionally, when this monastery was in schism, one of their people told an acquaintance of mine that Mother Teresa is a great saint. This ecumenist mentality would not exist in a good Orthodox monastery. You should also know that Saint Herman's Monastery falsified the writing of Fr. Seraphim Rose, which is unethical and corrupt. In the 1979 edition of Fr. Seraphim Rose' book "Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future" (page 220), he endorsed traditional Orthodox churches, but the leadership of Saint Herman's Monastery falsified this page in their 2004 edition, which is page 184 in that edition. An Old Calendarist priest wrote about this falsification: "It shows not only how willing they are to deceive people, but that they're willing to take holy things and ruin them. If they could do this to Fr Seraphim's writings, what else could they do?"
5. For a decade, the monastery was schismatic, and performing fake baptisms, fake church services, and deceiving good-hearted people who wanted to be Orthodox.
(Note: Court documents from Dauphin County, Pa., show that in 1969 Vrionis was indicted on two counts of sodomy and one of corrupting the morals of minors. The documents state that in November 1968, Vrionis performed sex acts with two 14-year-old boys. He later pleaded guilty to the charges, and in 1970 paid a $250 fine and served 23 months probation for each charge, sentenced concurrently).
FATHER HERMAN WAS NOT HOLY
There is a fringe group of people who may be suffering from the effects of some sort of thought reform, or mind control who view Fr. Herman as a holy elder or a saint. These people are not healthy, and do not have a proper understanding of Orthodoxy. Let me guess: Fr. Herman is holy until he molests your own son, right? Where is your empathy and respect toward the victims and the families of the people he sexually abused? It is a sin against God to defend Fr. Herman and decry the Orthodox Church that deposed him. Siding with a deposed homosexual who hurt a lot of people, instead of with Christ and his Church is impious. The Bible says: “He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord.” (Proverbs 17:15). It also states: “How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah. Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked." (Psalms 82:2-4). People who side with Fr. Herman are by implication encouraging others to defy Church authority.
My Advice: Before you hand all your power over to someone, vet him and make sure he is mentally and spiritually healthy, as well as canonical. Orthodoxy allows men to exercise so much authority over others, so it is vital that you vet the man first. If you get demonized just for asking questions, this should raise a red flag in your mind. A good and healthy clergyman should have nothing to hide.
There are articles exposing this monastery on the Cult Education Institute website, SNAP and POKROV (the latter is now defunct). I don’t know if other groups have exposed them.
MORE INFORMATION ON THE MONASTERY
SNAP Article 1 (The links are now invalid so I added the word “Defunked”)
For immediate release: Thursday, February 19, 2015
Statement by Melanie Jula Sakoda of Moraga, CA, East Bay Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (925-708-6175, melanie.sakoda@gmail.com)
A recent special assembly of the Long Island-based Orthodox Church in America (OCA) nominated an episcopal candidate for the long vacant see of the Diocese of the South.
https://www.facebook.com/wilmingtonoca/posts/1038294042852069:0 (Defunked)
While the selection of Archimandrite Gerasim Eliel is subject to approval by the OCA’s synod of bishops, normally such nominations are routinely approved. However, in this case SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is urging the synod to carefully consider this nominee and hold out for another candidate.
Eliel’s glowing resume leaves out some pertinent facts about him, in particular his long and close connection to two notorious Orthodox predators, Herman Podmoshensky and Pangratios Vrionis.
https://www.facebook.com/wilmingtonoca/posts/1038294042852069:0 (Defunked)
While the resume mentions that Eliel’s monastery, St. Herman of Alaska in Platina, California, went into schism from the Orthodox Church in the 1980s, it chooses to omit the fact that the abbot who led the monastery into schism, Podmoshensky, left the Church in the wake of allegations that he sexually abused young men and boys. The Church never made any findings on the abuse allegations, electing instead to defrock Podmoshensky on the easier to prove charge of disobedience. Eliel, unlike most of the Platina brotherhood, chose to follow this sexual predator into schism.
http://www.pokrov.org/persons/father-herman-podmoshensky/ (Defunked)
The resume also neglects to mention that after leaving the Orthodox Church Podmoshensky and Eliel joined a group led by a convicted child molester, Metropolitan Pangratios Vrionis. The metropolitan has two convictions for abusing minor boys, one in 1970 and one in 2003. He was defrocked by the Orthodox Church following his first conviction, but started his own church and made himself a bishop.
http://www.pokrov.org/persons/metropolitan-pangratios-vrionis/ (Defunked)
Finally, the resume claims that the reconstituted Platina brotherhood removed Podmoshensky as abbot “in response to the erratic leadership of the late Abbot Herman and his failure to decisively bring the monastic community back into canonical unity with the Orthodox Church.” However, it neglects to mention that the brotherhood was only one of many parishes and monasteries that left Vrionis after his first conviction was publicized on a website tracking Orthodox abusers (http://www.pokrov.org) in 1999. It also fails to mention Eliel wrote to his Orthodox bishop in 2001 saying that Podmoshensky was removed because of additional incidents of sexual misconduct.
http://www.pokrov.org/wp-content/uploads/GerasimtoJovan20011226.pdf (Defunked)
Cappy Larson, one of the founders of Pokrov.org and now also a SNAP leader, was incredulous that Eliel had been nominated.
“The OCA is still reeling from the conviction of Archbishop Seraphim Storheim for the sexual abuse of a child. I can’t believe assembly would seriously consider a man who spent so much time in the company of two notorious sexual predators, and has yet to say a public word against either. I hope that the synod of bishops has more sense than to elect a candidate who thinks it’s more important to conceal predators then to protect the vulnerable and help heal the wounded.”
Melanie Jula Sakoda, also of Pokrov.org and SNAP, agreed. “If the OCA is serious about changing the way abuse is handled in their Church, Eliel seems like precisely the wrong kind of candidate.”
Source: https://www.snapnetwork.org/ny_new_bishop_nominated_for_orthodox_church_victims_disapprove_of_candidate_urge_reconsideration?recruiter_id=22012
SNAP Article 2
New Orthodox bishop elected; SNAP is appalled at his selection
Yesterday the Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) elected Archimandrite Gerasim Eliel as the new bishop of Fort Worth, Texas. Bishop-elect Eliel will work as an auxiliary to Archbishop Alexander Golitzen in the OCA's Diocese of the South (DOS). We believe that the OCA has made an extremely poor choice in elevating the Archimandrite to this position.
Archimandrite Eliel had been the overwhelming favorite to fill the then-vacant see of the DOS in 2015. SNAP registered its disapproval at the time. We felt that the Synod of Bishops was not paying sufficient attention to the Archimandrite's long and close connection to two notorious Orthodox perpetrators, Abbot Herman Podmoshensky and Metropolitan Pangratios Vrionis. The OCA Bishops decided not to elect Archimandrite Eliel to lead the DOS that year, although it did appoint him as administrator of the Diocese, much to our disappointment.
Six years later we still believe that the OCA Synod is wrong to further raise a man who has yet to speak out against the two men who he worked closely with and who caused so much damage to the lives of Orthodox boys and young men.
As we said in 2015, if the OCA is truly serious about changing the way abuse is handled in their Church, Archimandrite Eliel seems like precisely the wrong person for the job.
CONTACT: Melanie Jula Sakoda, SNAP Survivor Support Coordinator (925-708-6175, msakoda@snapnetwork.org), Mike McDonnell, SNAP Communications Manager (267-261-0578, mmcdonnell@snapnetwork.org), Zach Hiner, SNAP Executive Director (zhiner@snapnetwork.org, 517-974-9009)
(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
Source: https://www.snapnetwork.org/new_orthodox_bishop_elected_snap_is_appalled_at_his_selection
COMPLAINTS POSTED ONLINE
I found this post on line, written August 8, 2009. Father Herman contributed to the loss of this man’s faith. He wrote:
“[Profanity deleted]. I am very glad and shocked to find your community. I have searched the internet for years and have not been able to find anything from people who are talking specifically about the monastery or the "brotherhood". Anyway I lived at St. Herman's Monastery from 1996 to 1998. From there I moved to Alaska to the St. Innocents Academy until 2000. I lived for awhile in Eugene with the community there, but did not have a very good experience. I now live in Boise Idaho, totally separated from "the church" or any part of Christianity for that matter. I often think about my experiences with Orthodoxy, because they had such an impact on my formative years. I had a great struggle in 2000 when I decided to separate myself from Orthodoxy. I had a difficult time for a number of reasons, but mostly it had to do with the fact that while living in the monastery as a novice, Fr. Herman tried numerous times to make out with me and use my own sexual frustration for his benefit. I am not the only person this happened to and other people have left the church for the same reason. I was reticent about saying these things but I recently found him speaking on Youtube, spouting his propaganda. I was under the impression that he was sent to reclusion by his spiritual father, a Romanian priest that I cannot remember his name, but the monastery wrote a book about him because he spent some time in the Romanian gulag. People are under the impression that Fr. Herman is some type of Holy Father, but he is nothing more than a confused old gay man that has nothing left to hang on to other than his Orthodox beliefs. It makes more sense when whosesplittingtheatom was also talking about Fr. Seraphim's homosexuality, and frustrates me to think that two gay guys from San Francisco moved to the mountains and became heiromonks ended up brainwashing a huge multitude of people. I'm not saying these things from a homophobic bias either. I have no problem with homosexuality, it's only ironic that the Orthodox church looks heavily down on it. Please don't let these words discourage you from believing in Orthodoxy. I would just not have anything to do with those people. I would join another church like one that is associated with the Greek Monastery in Arizona. The whole uncanonical bullshit that happened with the Brotherhood and the rechrismation also took a toll on my beliefs. I was very confused and did not feel like I was getting any answers from God or from the fathers at the Greek Monastery in Arizona, that I spent a few days at. I was really depressed and a bit suicidal about my decision to leave the church, for I was sure I was going to go to hell. Though, I have now come through it. These are my experiences that have probably driven me further from Orthodoxy, and I would not want to discourage other's beliefs. I just want to help people get the hell away from St. Herman's monastery and those associated with it. People should be able to be Orthodox Christians and still exist in the world, and not fell like they have to live a monastic lifestyle. I did not feel like I could do both, so I left. I would be very interested in hearing others' experiences, I hope they may be less depressing than mine.”
Here is another comment I read online from another person:
"He hurt several men that I know personally. The accusations are real. The damage done is real and has been life altering for them. It is hard to hear him lauded. I realize he brought many to the church, but he abused many as well. The men I know were adults when it happened. Barely adults (late teens) but they were not minors. The shame they bare is horrible as well as feeling duped. One of them can barely stand to be in church. He goes with his wife but always stands in the back holding his youngest child. Even though they were not minors, this is still abuse. They were young and in the presence of someone telling them he was their spiritual father. It was an incredible abuse of power. And those he brought to the church eventually had to deal with a difficult transition from outside the canonical church to inside it and all the mental and emotional changes associated with that. Please be careful reading his works and know that they come from a man who was spiritually sick. And pray for mercy for his soul."
I read this post online from Reader Daniel:
"Brief statement:
This overly kindly version of his life, mainly the part about how and why he was defrocked by ROCOR, and what he did after that, is not the true or full story. This is an overly sympathetic version of the hard unpleasant facts, [ a cover-up version], of a self-appointed 'elder' who in severe prelest/delusions, and in immense pride, rebelled against the church, his lawful bishop, and against monastic norms, and thus, he caused much harm to many many souls.[ with the many good things that he did indeed accomplish]. He created a vicious schism in this Western ROCOR diocese, and slandered his biggest friend, our Archbishop Anthony (Medvedev). He had to be defrocked, as he would not REPENT or admit his many wrong doings and grievous sins] But instead, he refused all discipline and instead made his insane schism, especially in cahoots with the strange sect, 'The Holy Order of Mans' connected to that vagante 'Met. Pangratios Vrionis'. [ a defrocked New Calendar Greek priest, who made himself a 'bishop'].
Also, he secretly accepted the MP, and served together with Pat. Alexis, receiving an award from that man.
Herman totally lost control of the passions of his flesh, [ his main spiritual problem] and he taught others, that such a licentious false way of monastic life, was...alright, acceptable in Orthodox practice and monastic life. [ as long as it was hidden from view].
He and Abbot Panteleimon (Metropoulos] in Boston, were very alike.
As one, among the many, whom he deeply hurt and wounded, and slandered and maligned and columniated against, [because I reported, IN ORDER TO STOP HIM, with a number of others, his terrible misdeeds and harm to souls to our Archbishop Anthony]. I can only say now: MAY ALMIGHTY GOD HAVE MERCY UPON HIS SOUL, FORGIVE HIS MANY SINS, and help me to forgive him!.... I still cannot totally forgive him.
He never apollogized to me, nor asked my forgiveness. He needed to.
I am unable to say or sing, 'Memory Eternal' for him.
His nickname for me, after he left ROCOR, to his many past deluded zombie like cultic followers, who thought that he was 'our living saint', was: 'That scum Everiss!'. This he repeated over many years to many.
God only knows how many souls, he drove away from Orthodoxy, and even from God.
He even has caused some to disparage Fr. Seraphim, [who himself was a sincere true ascetic and priest].
And for his immortal soul's sake, I hope that he truly repented before he died. Only God knows that.
But his dark bitter memory to me, is not one of blessedness, but quite the opposite, sad to have to say.
He was the classic false-elder, a dire personage that he warned many to avoid. Yet, he himself was a prime example, as it turned out.
Reader Daniel Everiss"
CONCLUSION
Problems I have found with many clergy professing Orthodoxy: They never admit when they are wrong, they run roughshod over their people (meaning they completely ignore the opinions, rights, or feelings of others), they never resolve problems they create, they never apologize to people they hurt, they never repent (except perhaps to themselves). Everything is restricted to formal church ritual (i.e. Forgiveness Sunday), where their "righteousness" is put on public display. But they seem to miss the whole point of the Forgiveness Sunday ritual. When you are used to feeling special and having people bow to you, kissing your hand, and following your every order, this can lead to a sense of entitlement and superiority. Questioning a narcissist is considered the deepest betrayal. I am not accusing all these men of narcissism, but I believe many are. They want everyone to uncritically accept everything they do, even when they contradict Church teaching, or they will throw you under the bus. This attitude is totally unchristian.
Remember, A sick church makes you the problem for pointing out it's problems.
MORE INFORMATION
Suddenly Orthodox
https://culteducation.com/group/975-holy-order-of-mans/9812-suddenly-orthodox-.html
Awkward Christian Soldiers (Note: the date on this article is wrong. It was published on 12/22/1999)
https://culteducation.com/group/975-holy-order-of-mans/36755-awkward-christian-soldiers.html
It's Time to Tell a Story (Note: Easiest to search for Fr. Herman to find reference to Podmoshensky)
https://cazandlittle.wordpress.com/category/its-time-to-tell-a-story/page/2/
Seven ways narcissists make victims look like the villain