Justice wrote:Hopefully this response will be readable.
Where would he lead you? He is not a good example of a shepherd.
He lead Fr. Mark Templet to the ROAC and took him under his wing when he was studying for the priesthood. He also makes multiple pastoral visits to ROAC parishes in the USA and abroad every year.
but also the charges of sexual immorality that were brought against him were horrid.
So were the ones brought against Met. Valentine. Yet they turned out to be little more than slander. I think the GOC-S was a bit to quick to judge these accusations, (assuming this is the reason Archbishop Andrew left) considering this was around the time that Met. Valentine was also being tried in Russia.
And you must ask: why has he repeatedly run away? This shows no sign of repentance
Earlier you said he schismed twice, are you saying that the first schism was him leaving the ROCOR for the ROAC? Plus, I think he still respects the GOC-S for its Orthodox mission.
The first sign of trouble when Priest Andrew was at the GOC parish in New York occurred when his deeply disturbing divorce was filed. Instead of staying at that GOC parish and trying to work out his salvation, Priest Andrew fled. Why did he flee?
This is a rhetorical question, so please do not get into the details of the divorce as that would contribute to all the gossip that occurred. Stick to the facts: namely, that he became a divorced man.
The fact is that divorced priests should rarely stay in the ministry, and should almost never be consecrated as a bishop. It takes two to tangle and most divorces are rarely the fault of one person, except in cases of adultery or when one spouse apostatizes and leaves the faith. It is not clear that either happened.
In the GOC under Archbishop Stephanos, usually divorced priests are defrocked. Yes, the GOC is very strict, but it must be to preserve the Holy Faith. Even St. Paul said that bishops are to be the husbands of one wife. St. Paul did not say that bishops should be selected from among the divorced.