I wanted to reflect on what has been going on regarding the Sexual Misconduct issue in the Orthodox Church – not just the OCA but through SCOBA as well, during the last ten to twelve years. Before I begin, I will present my credentials. I received a PhD in 1994 from the Union Institute in […]

POKROV NOTE: This guest editorial first appeared in April, 1993. ___________________________________________________ Almost weekly we read about a new case of sexual misconduct within the Roman Catholic clergy. Sensationalizing the sexual abuse cases of celibates sells newspapers and promotes high ratings for talk show. However, we cannot simply dismiss these stories as titillating “tell all” peculiar […]

Sexual Abuse In God’s Family It is time for the church family to bring sexual abuses out of the closet, to face this problem, and to move forward rebuilding the shattered image of the family of God when such abuses occur. Overt sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape, molestation, incest all happen in the Orthodox Church. […]

In commenting on Psalm132, St. John Chrysostom offered the following words about the virtue of gentleness. He is talking about Moses who the bible describes as the gentlest/meekest man on earth (Numbers 12:3). “

POKROV NOTE: This article first appeared in the July/August 2009 issue of “Touchstone.” ___________________________________________________ Leon J. Podles on the Integration of Anger into the Virtuous Life Any institution tends to preserve itself by avoiding conflict, whether external or internal. In addition to this universal tendency, many Christians have a false understanding of the nature and […]

The other day I spoke on the phone to an Orthodox monk in connection with my Templeton project. We got to talking about martial arts, and he said he didn’t think it was appropriate for Orthodox Christians to engage in them, because to the extent they involve fighting, they call up the passions, which Orthodoxy […]

Pokrov has now been online for almost ten years. Considering all the reports we have had since we first began our ministry, we wonder if the Orthodox – or at least the Orthodox hierarchy — have a blind spot concerning clergy sexual misconduct. For example, as of January 1, 2009, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of […]

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There are good sexual addiction tests that can be found on the internet that can help you determine if you are addicted to sex in some way, shape or form. We are not going to attempt to offer you a comprehensive test here, but only want to give you a partial list of questions you […]

Maybe you too thought the Catholic Church sex scandal was behind us. You don’t want to hear about it anymore: A press conference announcing survivor groups’ latest efforts got almost no coverage. So read the depressing facts here first: There are almost certainly predator priests living anonymously in communities around here, or perhaps in retirement […]