Maria Bernal: Asks about Father Ephraim and his monasteries

POKROV NOTE ON LINK UPDATES:

The websites mentioned by the Orthodox Christian News Service editors at the conclusion of this letter have changed their URLs. The official website for the monasteries is now

http://www.stanthonysmonastery.org/map.php

The webiste of critical articles was an earlier version of Pokrov.og. The new link can be found at the right of this page under ”Related Groups.”
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Dear Editor,

I’ve been hearing alot about Father Epharam and I’m very confused. I’ve heard that he is not a priest and was a monk in a monastery in Greece. I’m from Chicago and my family was recently in Florida. They were given a handout on the monasteries that he has created and all the followers he has.

Some people here in Chicago believe that he is the “Holy Saviour”. My brother went to our church priest and he talked to him about this situation.

Of course, being diplomatic and all, he just said that he didn’t approve of Fr. Epharam. I would like to know where I can get information on this monastery situation with Fr. Epharam. If there is anything that you know or know where I can find out, please let me know.

Thank you,
Maria Bernal

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Editor’s Note: Fr. Ephraim and his monasteries are controversial. The official web site for the monastaries is http://www.coutput.com/stanthonys/list.htm. Some critical articles may be found at http://www.angelfire.com/bc/orthodoxsurvivors/ephraim.html.Any of our readers who have information on this topic are invited to write in and respond to Ms. Bernal’s questions.