The Real Lavender Mafia – Part 2

So we have the four present conspirators- Robert Kondratick, Fr. Joseph Fester, Bishop Tikhon Fitzgerald and Bishop Nikolai Soriach who have formed bond of rage over their exclusion from the power of the Church. They are outcasts with soiled reputations from their behavior.

You may think that I am being too hard on Fitzgerald but I will get to him later on and you will see what kind of man he is. In the meantime we need to address Kondratick and Fester.

When Kondratick was suspended by Metropolitan Herman Swaiko, Fester ‘resigned in protest’ from the OCA Chancery staff. Though not directly implicated in the SIC Report it was clear that Fester had to have known something but, unlike Wheeler and Kucinda, did nothing. He resigned rather than ending up as fired, not knowing what the investigation at the time (Proskaur Rose) would dig up on him.

Important note- Fester has never once acknowledged the truth of the SIC report and has consistently defended Kondratick.

Having lost his salary and position, Fester approached Archbishop Dmitri Royster for a job. Here Fester was able to display his old talent- flattering and charming hierarchs. He and Kondratick perfected the art of flattery making themselves useful to the increasingly isolated OCA bishops. Whenever a problem arose within the OCA, they would spring into action and settle whatever problems there were.

Kondratick and Fester excelled themselves at giving the appearance of
being "good guys", of being "on your side" (sometimes to both sides!), and with the power of the Chancery, they actually were able to resolve some problems. From this they would reap loyalty, personal loyalty.  All of this would remain as  key parts of the Fester MO in Dallas.  The folks in Dallas, Paffhausen, Royster, clergy and faithful are only the latest in long line of victims to this con.

Keep in your mind that the bishops thought this a great service as did many OCA priests who early on defended Kondratick without knowing the depth of his corruption.  Assisted by Fester, Kondratick wrote many checks to help financially troubled priests and negotiated transfers, but much more money simply ‘disappeared’ down a rabbit hole of innuendo and gossip about secret lives.

Royster remembered Fester’s “service” and took him into the Dallas cathedral in March 2006.

While Royster is much-loved and very respected as an honest man, he had
difficulty believing the allegations (later verified through investigations culminating in the SIC) made against Kondratick and Fester. Very often good people have problems understanding evil. So he took in Fester and soon became a refuge for Kondratick.

Almost immediately Fester began to advise Royster into near rebellion against the OCA.

On September 1, 2006, Royster issues a letter before the SIC report had even been finalized in which he states-

Let us always look first into our own heart and see where we fall short of the glory of God and not be so quick to see the sin in our brother and judge him. Is not this the narrow path that leads to the Kingdom of God?

We know from this point that Royster was not ready to deal with the truth of Kondratick, thinking it to be more a case mismanagement than out and out evil.  This message was an omen of what was to come- on the 19^th of that same month Kondratick was received into the Diocese of the South.

Prior to this, Royster asked Swaiko if canonical charges were going to be brought against Kondratick.  Only upon hearing a negative response from Swaiko to this question did Royster agree to take Kondratick off Swaiko’s hands.  I think the key here is that Royster was first duped by Swaiko into taking part of an attempt to put Kondratick "away quietly" nearly a year after the latest moment when Swaiko could have got away with such a thing.  The All American Council in 2005 was the last moment where Swaiko could have reasonably put Kondratick away quietly, instead, he re-appointed Kondratick with full knowledge of the charges laid against him at the time. Swaiko was in denial and fell for Kondratick and Fester’s charm.

September 26 of 2006 is the date of Kondratick’s lawsuit against the OCA.  Royster appears not to have winced at the idea of Kondratick taking the entire community of the OCA to court for a promissory note which neither the Holy Synod nor the Metropolitan Council were asked to approve.

Of course we are talking about the ‘old’ OCA, where the metropolitan hired and fired the chancellor while the Synod looked on with detachment. Kondratick even states through his lawyer that he had been negotiating with Swaiko for a release rather than having to face an investigation as if to say that it was a personal struggle between two men rather than a matter of the entire OCA.

Two weeks later the lawsuit withdrawn, and he is assigned to parish in Florida. There is no evidence of quid pro quo, but don’t forget that by this point Fester is sharing an email account with Royster and had become one of his preeminent advisors.

On March 22, 2007, the Holy Synod issued a statement, in part saying-

In a letter of March 18, 2007, Archbishop Dmitri forwarded a request by Protopresbyter Kondratick to appear before the Holy Synod to ‘... answer any questions we might have related to the current situation in The Orthodox Church In America.’ After a consultation among the bishops, we agreed to permit him to appear as requested. On March 20, 2007, Fr. Kondratick appeared before us, presented his statement, and answered questions relating to his time as Chancellor. After substantial deliberation in executive session, we concurred that the explanations provided were neither credible nor persuasive, and found ourselves in agreement with the recommendation of the Metropolitan Council.

“At the written request of His Eminence, Archbishop Dmitri, and following consultation with the members of the Holy Synod, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman agreed to rescind the transfer of Protopresbyter Robert S. Kondratick to the Diocese of the South. Further actions appropriate under the circumstances will be initiated by Fr. Kondratick’s Bishop, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman.

(Note- this meeting was not attended by Soraich as a protest, who by this time was running into problems in Alaska. By August investigations into Soriach are made public.)

This agreement was signed by all the bishops, including Royster.  However Royster brought a ‘friend’ to the meeting- Fester. At the meeting he asked the Holy Synod to allow him to confer a jeweled cross on Fester and they agreed.

But something happened on the way home, and Royster was a changed man by the next day. He refused to release Kondratick, saying this on March 28-

I wish to share with you my thoughts related to a particular action taken this past week at the Synod meeting in Syosset.

There was an attempt to “rescind” the canonical transfer of a cleric in my diocese from the Diocese of Washington and New York to the Diocese of the South. Although I affixed my signature to a document, the action to “rescind” a canonical transfer is not canonically sustainable and thus it is null and void. A cleric cannot be transferred from one diocese to another unless the ruling Hierarch of that cleric is freely willing to transfer him to another bishop and that bishop is freely willing to accept him. I did not transfer the cleric in question back to his former diocese. Further, I have never transferred a cleric to another bishop without the free consent of the cleric. The cleric in question remains in the Diocese of the South as set forth in a letter dated March 22, 2007. See attached. (Read that letter here)

As a bishop, I am a shepherd of souls and not a master of men by lording over them. True love and obedience are free of coercion. My archpastoral decisions are made with the spiritual care of my entire flock in mind and nothing else.

Sadly, I have heard that the cleric in question may be suspended. Of course, he can only be disciplined by me, since I am his diocesan bishop. Thus any action to suspend him by someone else would be improper, especially in light of my support for his cooperation in the current situation that faces The Orthodox Church in America.

My love for all of my brothers on the Synod of Bishops is not diminished in the aftermath of our most recent meeting. In fact, I pray even more fervently for their well-being as I am sure they do for mine. We are united in a bond of love, even if, from time to time, we may differ in our views as to what is best for our respective dioceses and for the good of The Orthodox Church in America.

I ask all of you to pray for our Metropolitan. He is called to be a figure of unity in the bond of love as “the first among equals” of the bishops of our Church. He finds himself in a very delicate situation which I trust he will carefully navigate without concern for himself since we do all things not for our own glory but for the glory of God.

It is unfortunate but not uncommon that the “sower of division” the Evil One, works very hard to distract us during the Great Fast and even more as we approach Holy Week and the Feast of Feasts, the Resurrection of our Lord. Nonetheless, we must be ever vigilant to keep our focus on Christ and not be distracted by those who would twist our words, or worse, the words of the Gospel, and leave us spiritually dissipated and disunited.

Who could have provoked such an experienced bishop to rebel against his own Holy Synod? He even signed the very instrument of the transfer only be talked into backing out later. We have seen this pattern recently with Metropolitan Jonah, who is also being advised by… Fester.

Royster’s deans met with him and he admitted that he had not written the letter.  Someone else had.  Someone else had talked him into rebelling against the Holy Synod.  The deans convinced Royster to return to himself, and on April 19^th agreed to transfer Kondratick back to Swaiko.

Kondratick was suspended by Swaiko. He was then tried in a Spiritual Court on June 2007 and deposed from the priesthood in August 2007.  Rather than asking him to leave his parish assignment as is the norm, Royster let Kondratick stay there and work as a salaried layman. Confusing to the people? Sure, which is why they still call him “Father Bob.”

In December of 2007 Kondratick immediately appealed his defrocking.  His appeal was publicly supported by Royster, but was rejected by the Synod in December, 2007.  The Kondratick lawsuit was then re-filed in January 2008.

We start to hear more of Fester after a new acquaintance comes into town- Jonah Paffhausen.

To those who recall the great kerfuffle from Fitzgerald and Soriach over Kondratick’s dismissal, do not think I have forgotten them. This happy couple will be getting their own posts.