May

2

Lawsuit Alleges OCA Priest Breached the Seal of Confession

May 2, 2008 |

OCA addresses Alaska crisisDate Published: 5/1/2008
Publication: Pokrov
Related Document: Complaint: Kounentakos v. Metropolitan Herman

A new lawsuit against OCA parties alleges an OCA Priest broke the seal of confession. Do Orthodoxy have such a “seal”? Whatever one’s interpretations of the canons, the OCA web site states this rule:

The secrecy of the Mystery of Penance is considered an unquestionable rule in the entire Orthodox Church. Theologically, the need to maintain the secrecy of confession comes from the fact that the priest is only a witness before God. One could not expect a sincere and complete confession if the penitent has doubts regarding the practice of confidentiality. Betrayal of the secrecy of confession will lead to canonical punishment of the priest. Source

Details of the lawsuit include a report of how Fr. Alexey Karlgut conducts OCA investigations: “Fr. Alexey allegedly dropped his investigation, never interviewing the witnesses given to him by Mrs. Koumentakos, when she refused to waive her right to seek further remedies in court.”

Details on the lawsuit from Pokrov.org:

Today in Howard County, Maryland, a lawsuit was filed against Met. Herman (Swaiko), the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), the OCA’s Diocese of Washington and New York, Fr. Raymond Valencia,* the Orthodox Church of St. Matthew (OCSM), St. Matthew Housing Development, Inc (SMH), and the Board of Directors of St. Matthew Housing Development, Inc. (SMH BOD). This action was brought by Kristine Patico Koumentakos and her husband, Nicholas Koumentakos.

While the underlying dispute involves employment discrimination at SMH and retaliation for reporting that discrimination, the complaint contains a most troubling allegation in its recitation of facts. According to the suit, on or about November 1, 2007, Fr. Raymond sent an email (along with an attached letter) which contained information about Mrs. Koumentakos that Fr. Raymond had obtained in confession and during private counseling sessions, as well as knowingly false statements and embellishments. This material was sent to thirty-nine individuals, among them Mark Stokoe, the editor of Orthodox Christians for Accountability. The complaint calls Fr. Raymond’s inclusion of Mr. Stokoe ”a clear mean-spirited attempt to publish his letter to individuals that were not associated with the incidents described….”

Also according to the suit, the OCA sent Fr. Alexey Karlgut, described as an ”untrained investigator,” to look into the matter. However, Fr. Alexey allegedly dropped his investigation, never interviewing the witnesses given to him by Mrs. Koumentakos, when she refused to waive her right to seek further remedies in court.

Mrs. Koumentakos and her husband are seeking compensatory damages in the amount of one million dollars, and five million dollars in punitive damages.

Read more at Pokrov.org’s article.


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