Consecration of Bishop Peter of Cleveland Held at Protection Cathedral in Chicago
Consecration of Bishop Peter of Cleveland
Moderator: Mark Templet
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Justin Kissel
Weird photo
Did anyone notice that the deacon (behind the middle reader) who's face is glowing? It's also got some weird effect where it's making the new bishop seem to've gotten a bloody nose or something.
The deacon behind the reader is actually sub-deacon Vanya Drobot, from J-ville, swell guy. The reader is actually a deacon, Julian. Most of the other people are also either from Jordanville, or I know them by their visits to Jordanville. I'm highly amused that my brother is in this shot, & looks highly pleased with himself.
Ania
Disenter Very Badly Beaten During Consecration of New Bishop
Dissenter Very Badly Beaten During Consecration of New ROCOR Bishop
Valentine Sheglowski Sub Deacon of the ROCOR (Laurus) cried "Anaxios!" at the consecration of the Bishop Peter (Lukianov) on Saturday. - and in return was removed from the Chicago cathedral, suffering injuries including a seriously bruised neck.
Police were called by the doctors, to the emergency room to facilitate the initiation of legal action; however, at this time we do not know of any charges filed in the incident.
Fr. Victor Boldewskul of the ROCOR (L) claimed that Subdeacon Valentine had "repented" and "seen the error of his ways". An email response from the Subdeacon himself to the ROCOR (L) Priest Fr. Vladimir Boikov seemed to tell a different story, and is included below in its entirety. Following this will be the letter of Fr. Vladimir to his brother priests of the ROCOR attempting to expose these sorry events. In return for his efforts towards honesty, his loyalty to the church abroad was put into question by Fr. John Shaw of Milwaukee as will be seen in the reply also placed below.
Dear Father Vladimir, please bless!
Indeed I thank you for your holy prayers, as well as collectively I thank all who have been praying for me, a sinner. I take no pride in stepping forward - it was a duty not to keep silent at the last moment's opportunity when, according to my understanding of the Holy Canons, one could challenge the ill-fated and imposed decision by a group of our bishops on the rest. I have no regrets about it and, in spite of various difficulties and complications that are just beginning to develop, I would have done it again... It is a terrible shame and a travesty our bishops of yesterday would not have allowed to take place. You ask, what is the opinion of the people who know me in Chicago? You mean those that, not to be not noticed, attended the "bright festivities" and subsequent gala celebration? A few openly shun away from me lest I might contaminate them, while others say one thing to the face and seem to do the opposite. Even a couple of my close friends (40+ years of friendship) here in Mpls/StPaul area began to behave as though I have caused pestilence or even worse; and that is just two days after the "event"! I will be ostracised; I feel this coming already. From time to time, I am reminded of the very sorrowful words by Tsar-Martyr Nicholas (on the day of his forced abdication): Krugom izmena, trusost' i obman . I say this as a matter of fact, without sadness, even with some humor. I am, however, heartbroken by the fact that all of the attempts to prevent the disgrace proved to be unsuccessful.
May our Lord God have mercy on all of us!
With love of Christ,
Valya
Begin forwarded message:
Dear Fathers,
In the interests of keeping a balanced debate on the recent events in Chicago, for which we have received glowing reviews from Frs. Victor Boldewskul and John Shaw (don't they remind you of a wrestling tag-team?) I decided to contact the "heckler" - a subdeacon of our Church and parish council member of our Minneapolis parish. His name is Valentine Sheglowski (I was wondering why the fathers were not mentioning his name - maybe so you all wouldn't contact him privately???). I have known him since I became the priest in the Chicago Cathedral in 1991.
It might interest the fathers to know that he was branded a "heckler" because he dared to proclaim "Anaxios" during the ordination, then he was literally, man-handled out of the church, subsequently saved from a beating in the bushes by a protestant minister (!!!!!) who began to recite the Lord's Prayer (this would have been a wonderful insight into Orthodoxy for the minister!) and taken to a hospital Emergency Room, where the doctors called the police so that he could press charges if he wanted to (I don't believe he has yet...)
In all, quite a different picture than we have been presented...
On the assertion of Fr Victor Boldewskul that the "Heckler" (just say his name if you are going to defame him) has now repented and seen the error of his ways I received the following response (editor:placed above this letter.) from Valya when I contacted him to find out how he was doing, AFTER receiving Fr Victor's post.
This ordination has certainly caused a division in our Church (even though it may not yet be apparent), let's not exacerbate the division with unfair and unbalanced reporting.
In Christ Fr Vladimir Boikov
This is the reply of Fr. John Shaw to Fr. Vladimir's letter
Fr Vladimir Boikov wrote:
" In the interests of keeping a balanced debate on the recent events in Chicago, for which we have received glowing reviews from Frs. Victor Boldewskul and John Shaw (don't they remind you of a wrestling tag-team?)"
JRS: I replied to this on the other list, and repeat here what I said yesterday (twice):
That the consecration of Bishop Peter was the decision of our Synod, and that it was carried out personally by Metropolitan Laurus, with Vl. Alypy and Vl. Kirill.
That, at least in theory(!), should be enough, for those of us loyal to ROCOR.
In Christ Fr. John R. Shaw
The following account is taken from the mailing list "orthodox tradition.'
orthodox-tradition Orthodox Christian Traditionalist List From: "szmyte" Date: Wed Jul 16, 2003 12:26 am Subject: A Problem with Chicago's Consecration Services
Message 38235
List,
People should know what happened during the services to consecrate Archimandrite Peter as Bishop this past feast of Ss. Peter and Paul.
At the moment prior to consecration when the candidate's worthiness of the order is requested, a man professed ANAXIOS three times in the cathedral. I'm not writing to discuss why he may have done this, but rather to state that it is his right as an Orthodox Christian to do so. Moreover, according to the Holy Canons, they should have paid attention to his proclamation of UNWORTHY, halted the consecration service, and performed some later investigation into the grounds for the statement. Not only was he ignored, he was manhandled(!) and physically removed from the cathedral. (I hope you all see this as a violation of the sanctity of the Holy church, not allowing a member of the faithful to participate in the services. Again, it is a right for a member of the faithful to question the candidacy. This is why the service is held in the church building with Orthodox Christians presentit is seeking the approval/disapproval of the candidate, otherwise it could be done behind closed doors.).
This man sustained injuries at the hands of his attackers (who are allegedly two of Fr. Peter's own brothers!!). He did not resist their abuse. He was taken to a hospital, released, but upon further pain a day or two after the incident, a second visit proved that this man's neck was actually broken! (editor's note: this has not been confirmed, only reports that his neck was "very, very badly bruised, accompanied by great pain.")
Is this any kind of conduct for YOUR Holy Catholic Apostolic Orthodox Church? Some accounts are being spread for mass consumption from clergy that were present there that day of how beautiful the service was etc., etc., save for a cursorily disgusted acknowledgment of the actions of one "heckler". Are we to be reduced to this? Any church service without the sincere and willful participation of its clergy and parishioners is, sorry to say, reduced to something comparable to a mere theatrical performance. The use of the word "heckler" seemingly supports this, too. He was not a heckler, but one who took the moment seriously and with an objection and a right granted by the Canons to express it, specifically at that very moment. Please don't be deceived by the dismissive tone of these other accounts.
Regardless as to what this person's accusation was (which went uninvestigated), he is not much different than you or I. And I'm disgusted at the threat of physical persecution, which in our own day is being proved to come from the hands of our own Orthodox Christians within the very walls of our church sanctuary. Lord, have mercy on us.
In Christ,
Eric (Thomas) Szmyt
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Justin Kissel
Eric Szmyt brings up some interesting points, though by the usage of "(L)" I'm guessing you got this from the ROCiE site? If so, it's credibility (for me, anyway) is certainly not high.