Bishop Irineu Duvlea

Bishop Irineu Duvlea
Bishop Irineu Duvlea

Bishop Irineu Duvlea was an auxillary bishop in the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), Romanian Episcopate (ROEA). He was the Abbot of Holy Ascension Monastery in Clinton, Michigan.

Duvlea was defrocked by the OCA’s Synod of Bishops in June of 2017, following a two year internal investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct. The letter announcing this sanction is linked above. Duvlea maintains that he is innocent of the charges.

Following the Synod’s decision, Holy Ascension’s antimension was returned to Archbishop Nathanial Popp. The archbishop also received a letter from the monastic community asking to be released from ROEA.

On September 1, 2015, Archbishop Nathanial Popp had announced on the ROEA website that the Duvlea was being investigated for sexual misconduct by the OCA’s Office for Review of Sexual Misconduct Allegations (ORSMA). Duvlea was placed on a leave of absence and temporarily suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.

Duvlea has said publicly that he is innocent of the charges.

On April 8, 2016, a press release from the Romanian Episcopate announced the following update from ORSMA:

An investigation is in progress, conducted according to the policies, standards and procedures of the Orthodox Church in America. It is a complex investigation because it is so thorough, the allegations being so serious and a great number of people had to be interviewed, many of them needing translators. Thus, it would be inappropriate to comment on the outcome. However, the investigation is drawing to a close and the final report, with recommendations, is being written. Once that report has been completed, decisions can be made.
The press release also revealed that Duvlea had asked that he and his monastery be put under the authority of a bishop other than Popp.