St. Chrysostomos the New Confessor: Is public criticism against the Hierarchy permitted?

(Source: from the “Introduction” of the book, Κρίσεις επί της σημερινής καταστάσεως της Ελληνικής Εκκλησίας και κοινωνίας [Judgments on the Present Condition of the Greek Church and Society], written by the Saint during his exile at the Monastery of Ypsilos in Mytilene in 1952.)

 

 

Does the revelation of the spiritual condition of the Body of the highest Hierarchy serve the common good, or on the contrary, does it harm it and morally damage it by informing it of the shortcomings and sins of those who direct the affairs of the Church and by causing scandal because of them?

And thus, I found myself for a moment as a defendant before the dreadful Tribunal of my conscience. Various thoughts then spontaneously arose from the depths of my soul, arguing in favor of the one or the other opinion, while I sat upon the bench of the accused.

First appeared the advocates for the prosecution, presenting in support of their position the following arguments:

“We too, Mr. President, do not deny that even Hierarchs, as men clothed with flesh and living in the world, cannot be free from the shortcomings and sins that come from human weakness, thereby confirming the Scripture, ‘no one is without sin, even if his life be but one day.’ Given this, the revelation and publication of the shortcomings and transgressions of the clergy—and especially of the Hierarchy—causes great harm to the laity, which, though incorrectly, equates the sacred ministers with the reality of the Church and its teachings. Thus, they are scandalized, and the reverence and devotion owed to the Church and its ministers is shaken to its foundations.

“And if, according to the saying ‘what happens at home should not be made public,’ scandals and disputes occurring within a household between parents, children, and relatives ought not be made known to the public so that the honor and dignity of the family is not exposed, then all the more is it not permitted for a Christian—and especially a clergyman—to reveal and publish the deficiencies and grave blemishes of the clergy, and especially of the Hierarchs. And this, because through the revelation and publication of the sins and offenses of the Hierarchs, it is not merely the honor and dignity of a household or a family that is exposed, but the divinely-founded house of God and His God-established Church.

“Given these facts, it is evident, Mr. President, that the one who reveals to the public the possible shortcomings and dark blemishes of the ministers of the Most High God becomes guilty before God and the Church, and appropriate penalties should be imposed against him for the public scandal he causes to the Christian community in which he dwells.

“Moreover, the respected Tribunal's Christian understanding does not overlook, nor is it unaware of, the Gospel saying of the divine Founder of the Church, Christ, who said: ‘Woe to the man through whom the scandal comes’ (Matt. 18:7). Therefore, I request the conviction of the accused, as falling under the penalty foreseen and defined by the ecclesiastical penal law for all those who cause moral scandals.”

After the conclusion of the pleadings by the advocates for the prosecution, the Honorable President invited the advocates for the defense to present their arguments on behalf of the accused.

“We too, Honorable Mr. President and honorable Judges, do not deny but rather agree with our opposing colleagues that both higher and lower clergy, being men, clothed with flesh and living in the world, cannot be free from the shortcomings and sins that arise from human weakness.

“However, when the faults and moral transgressions of the clergy—and especially of the Hierarchs—are such that they cannot be justified by human weakness, and as such cannot be covered up or silenced, then do you not think, honorable Judges, that the concealment and suppression of these wrongs causes greater harm than benefit—not only to the sinful clergyman, but to the entire community in which he has been appointed as teacher and moral guide for the direction and salvation of souls? In such a case, when the transgressions and offenses of the clergy do not stem from human frailty, from which no one is exempt, but from unbelief and moral callousness—up to and including contempt even for public opinion—then the cause of scandal in society is no longer the revelation and denunciation, but rather the concealment and silence regarding the vile and malicious acts of immoral and unworthy clergy.

“The toleration and concealment of such blatant sins and profanations by a clergyman, besides scandalizing the whole community, does not contribute to the correction and healing of such a spiritually ill and festering cleric. On the contrary, such toleration emboldens the depraved and corrupt clergyman, making him bolder and more shameless in sinning, and contemptuous even of public opinion about him—reckoning the scandal he causes to the religious conscience of the faithful as nothing, scandal which even shakes their faith in Christ to the foundation and leads them to imitate his actions.

“But perhaps our esteemed opponent will object, saying that in such a case what is called for is not public exposure of the moral character of such a disgraceful clergyman and his public shaming, but rather his denunciation to the governing Synod—the only authority competent to take the measures foreseen by the Canons for the punishment and correction of the clergyman who brazenly handles divine and sacred things—and for the root-healing of the evil.

“We too consider such an objection of our opponent to be just and reasonable, since by appealing to the higher ecclesiastical authority, there is hope that the stumbling and boldly sinning clergyman may come to his senses and that the public scandal to Christians may be safely prevented.

“But when the governing ecclesiastical authority, failing to rise to its high calling, instead of forwarding the complaint to the competent investigation, files it away ‘for fraternal love’—that is, ad Kalendas Graecas, as the ancients said—then the only remaining path toward punishment of the brazen and unrepentantly sinning clergyman, and toward root-healing of the evil, is to deliver him over to public opinion, the only avenger of shameless and flagrant crimes and offenses. Such offenses and transgressions are what our Lord Himself had in mind when He publicly hurled His terrible and dreadful ‘woes’ against the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees of the Jewish Synagogue, whose hypocrisy and hideous malice of soul He publicly denounced. For just as a hidden ulcer, festering with foul discharge, undermines the physical body by destroying its vitality and health, so also does a malignant and hideous passion of the soul, when concealed, consume and undermine its vitality and moral well-being, as it is ravaged and corroded by this ulcerating moral wound.

“Moreover, when the moral transgressions and grievous profanations of the clergy—and especially of the Hierarchs—do not remain unknown to the public but are the subject of conversation and criticism in households and private meetings of the faithful, the revelation and publication of these do not increase the scandal or the disheartening impression of Christians, but rather lessen it, inspiring in them the hope of deliverance from the evils and scandal-causing ministers of the Church.

“Furthermore, the public denunciation and censure of immoral clergy—who fortunately are few [ed. note: ‘they were few then—now, just look, Your Eminence…’]—will relieve the majority of moral and conscientious clergy from the general condemnation and reproach. For it is neither just nor fitting, for the sake of covering up the guilty, to have the good and conscientious clergy—who by their honorable and virtuous conduct are worthy of every glory and honor—be accused together with them.

“The public denunciation of those who err and sin among the clergy has, moreover, this additional benefit: it may not only bring the stumbling clergyman to awareness and repentance, but may also serve as a deterrent—and especially an instructive example—for those clergymen who are inclined toward the uncontrollable urges of base and lowly passions, from which they may be restrained by the exemplary punishment and shameful exposure of the wicked and immoral clergy who have fallen into such things.

“And finally, the exposure and denunciation of such wicked and conscienceless ministers will also have a beneficial effect upon those in authority over the Church, who will be practically and instructively persuaded by the pressure of public opinion that, in such serious accusations against clergy, ‘fraternal love’ must be weighed against the divine authority of the Church and the dignity of the governing Ecclesiastical Hierarchy—since both of these are jeopardized in the conscience of the faithful by the concealment of clergy who have been denounced as unworthy of their high and sacred mission.”

Thus, after the conclusion of the pleadings of the defense attorneys, and the proceedings having been declared completed, the Tribunal of conscience withdrew in order to deliberate and deliver its verdict either in favor of or against me, who sat upon the bench of the accused.

Fortunately, the verdict of the Tribunal of conscience was acquittal for me, the accused; and thus I proceeded, with a calm and peaceful conscience, to the publication of the present treatise, with the firm and unwavering conviction and the sweet hope that it will contribute—even if only to the slightest degree—to the purification of the grievously ailing Body of the Hierarchy, by the excision of its ulcerating and putrefied Members and their replacement with new, theologically trained Clergy, inflamed with holy and divine zeal, and worthy of their divine and sacred mission.

 

Online: https://krufo-sxoleio.blogspot.com/2024/06/blog-post_8.html