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The Boston Globe - June 27, 1998

CHURCH

Leadership turmoil tears Greek Orthodox

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By Diego Ribadeneira
GLOBE STAFF

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Two years ago the nation's 2 million Greek Orthodox cheered the news that Metropolitan Spyridon had been chosen to be their new archbishop.

Today, however, there is revolution within the Greek church, with people who once supported Spyridon now formally demanding his resignation.

What started last year as criticism by some church activists of what they considered the autocratic style of Spyridon, leader of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America, has ballooned into a full-fledged attempt by many deep-pocketed Greek Orthodox, including several in Boston, to force the archbishop to step down.

It's an extraordinary display of public dissent that has dismayed many Orthodox and non-Orthodox Christians. Some Orthodox say the seriousness of the controversy is underscored by the makeup of the dissident group, Greek Orthodox American Leaders, or GOAL. The group's leaders are some of the most powerful church members; at least 20 of GOAL's 54 leaders have each contributed $100,000 or more to the Greek church in recent years, according to church records and GOAL leaders.

"The archbishop fails to have an understanding of fundamental American values - freedom of expression, the dignity of the individual and participatory decision-making," said Dr. Thomas Lelon, executive director of GOAL and vice president and dean of academic affairs at Nichols College in Dudley.

METROPOLITAN SPYRIDON

Cites commitment to "tradition"

Spyridon, through a spokesman at the archbishop's headquarters in New York, declined requests to be interviewed for this story. But in an interview published this month in the official newspaper of the Greek Archdiocese of America, he chastized his critics for failing to put the good of the church ahead of their own agenda.

"I appreciate that individuals have concerns and issues, and even band together, but the church is not composed of parties and lobbies," Spyridon told the Orthodox Observer. "We are all members of the Body of Christ. I hope we never forget that."

GOAL leaders have taken their campaign against Spyridon across the country, trying to convince the rank and file that financial mismanagement and a leadership style that devalues the laity should cost the archbishop his job. So far, they have held meetings in 17 different cities, including Boston, where typically the meetings are held by teleconference or in private homes. Their first meeting was last November in Southborough at a Nichols College conference center.

A showdown between Spyridon and his detractors could occur early next month when the church's clergy and laity gather for their biennial convention.

The crisis has tainted the Greek Orthodox Church, caused church donations to drop, and left many to wonder whether Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who appointed Spyridon and is the spiritual leader of the world's 300 million Orthodox, will intervene.

For the moment, Orthodox church sources say, Bartholomew is standing behind his embattled archbishop but is becoming increasingly alarmed by the turmoil engulfing the church. Some GOAL members and other church activists have personally appealed to Bartholomew to oust Spyridon.

Spyridon's defenders say the archbishop is being victimized by malcontents, unhappy with Spyridon's efforts to safeguard the church's Orthodox integrity from changes to suit American tastes. For instance, Spyridon has chafed at the decreasing use of Greek in the liturgy, and the abandonment of Byzantine chanting in favor of Christian hymns. His critics believe he is trying to impose Old World customs on a modern American Greek church that has moved beyond its Greek origins.

Even some Spyridon supporters acknowledge he faces a series of problems he must deal with if they are not to undermine his ability to lead the church:

██  The church's flagship educational institution, Hellenic College and Holy Cross School of Theology in Brookline, is under investigation by two independent academic accrediting agencies investigating whether academic standards were violated last year when the president and three professors were fired.

Some professors have told the Globe that the four priests were fired for their refusal to cover up sexual misconduct by another Greek Orthodox priest. Archdiocesan officials say the firings were based on personality conflicts and had nothing to do with the sexual misconduct, which occurred at a campus party.

Meanwhile, at least two professors have left the school in recent weeks, according to two priests who work at the college. A spokesman for the school could not be reached. Only eight students have enrolled at the theology school for the September term, down from roughly 15 to 20 in years past.

██  The Archdiocesan Council, the panel that helps Spyridon run the church, has raised concerns in a report prepared by a special committee about what they described as ''serious cash flow problems'' in the church's finances, including the archbishop's attempt to purchase a $1.4 million home without the council's approval.

Jerry Dimitriou resigned as the archdiocese's financial director earlier this year. Church sources said it was because of disagreements over the way church funds were being handled. Attempts to reach Dimitriou last week were unsuccessful. Spyridon abandoned his attempts to purchase a house, and aides say church finances are being audited by an outside accounting firm.

██  Priests in parishes in Massachusetts, Ohio, and California say that Sunday collection box donations have dropped significantly in the past few months. ''People who are disgusted by the direction of the church's leaders are voting with their pocketbooks,'' said one priest in a parish in Boston's western suburbs, who like seven other priests interviewed for this story asked not to be identified because they did not want to be linked publicly with the controversy. Some supported Spyridon, others did not.

Beyond issues of leadership style and financial management, observers say the conflict between Spyridon and dissidents is also a cultural clash.

Though Spyridon was born in Ohio, he has spent most of his adulthood in Greece and in Istanbul, where he has been shaped by a strongly hierarchical and cleric-run church structure.

He came to the United States in 1996 and found a church that had fully embraced American democratic values, where a premium had been placed on giving laity a strong voice.

"I have been puzzled that this commitment to Greek Orthodox tradition has been misintepreted by some people as a negative change, a `roll-back' or backward turning for our church," Spyridon told the Orthodox Observer.

Throughout history Orthodoxy has thrived, some religion scholars said, precisely because it has adapted to different national cultures while preserving its theological foundations. The use of English, for example, has helped make Orthodox Christianity more accessible to the growing number of Americans converting to Orthodoxy, they said.

"These hierarchs from overseas often don't understand American culture and how that impacts the church," said Vigen Guroian, professor of theology and ethics at Loyola College in Baltimore.

Spyridon's supporters recall that when he was appointed, it was hoped he could work to unite the 5 million Orthodox Christians in the United States into a major religious force by reaching out to the other ethnic branches of the church.

Metropolitan Methodios, bishop of the Greek Diocese of Boston, said that Spyridon has endured a steep "learning curve," and is now trying to be more conciliatory.

"I think he's becoming more tolerant of situations he can't change as quickly as he wishes he could," Methodios said.

[ The Boston Globe - June 27, 1998 - pp. A1 and A9 ]