The Depths of Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald) - just when you thought he could sink no lower

Recently, one of our favorite hierarchs decided to weigh-in with more of his gossip. Now, Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald) is known for his indecorous remarks on the internet. I have documented some of them, and will have more to share as time permits. But this, by a long shot, takes the cake.

There’s the pertinent excerpt from the blog ‘Monomakhos’:

In the OCA, and before that, the Russian Metropolia, candidates for ordination must, just prior (usually on the eve) to the actual laying on of hands, have made a full life confession to their (or a) spiritual father. They must also take an oath before the precious Cross and the book of Gospels. They must certify to this on a certificate. Below the place for a candidate to sign, there is a block labelled “Certificate of Spiritual Father” in which is space for about 5 lines of typing and then a line onto which the Priest who heard the life confession puts his signature. For an ordination to proceed, the Spiritual Father must state in that block that he has heard the life’s confession of the candidate. It is expected (and found on 99 per cent of the certificates on file at the Chancery and in the Archives) that the Priest will add the words, “and there are no impediments to ordination.” After that block, there’s a block for the ordaining Bishop, of the same size, into which the Bishop enters ‘I, N, Bishop of N. ordained X to the Holy Priesthood/Diaconate at X date and at X parish. Then he signs it.

I was astonished one day, when reading through my diocesan personnel files, which I was reorganizing, to find the following remark by an Archpriest, now retired and living in Minnesota, which went like this: “i have heard the confession of X. He has (my caps) REPENTED OF ALL CANONICAL IMPEDIMENTS.”
I think that merits several exclamation points, because the man was ordained anyhow and is now a learned archimandrite and candidate for a vacant see in the OCA. The ordaining Bishop fell asleep years ago, so there is no way to confront him and ask him, “Did you actually READ this before you ordained X?”

http://www.monomakhos.com/2011/09/the-king-of-righteousness-and-the-amazing-uncanonical-dreamcoat/#comment-11505

Yes, that’s right: Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald) divulged the contents of a confession on the internet. Not one that he heard, but rather one that another priest heard, and he has left no doubt as to who heard the confession and who gave it.

Now, there are not too many retired Archpriests living in Minnesota, nor are there many candidatesfor the episcopal rank. Why be so specific? Obviously, Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald) wants everyone to know who he is talking about.

He could have made mention of the note without specifying which state the confessor now lives in or what the confessee is up too. Like so:

I was astonished one day, when reading through my diocesan personnel files, which I was reorganizing, to find the following remark by a priest, now retired, which went like this: “i have heard the confession of X. He has (my caps) REPENTED OF ALL CANONICAL IMPEDIMENTS.”
I think that merits several exclamation points, because the man was ordained anyhow. The ordaining Bishop fell asleep years ago, so there is no way to confront him and ask him, “Did you actually READ this before you ordained X?”

That would have made no difference to the thrust of his post on the process of the life confession before ordination.

If Bp. Tikhon feels that this is important he should write to the members of the Synod. A blog is hardly the place to bring something like this up.

There is only one ‘learned archimandrite’ who is also candidate for a vacant diocese in the OCA. In fact, there is at the moment only one formal candidate who is to be presented to the Synod. And the then pastor of his home parish is retired and in the state mentioned. It is fairly easy to figure out the year and the ruling bishop as well. (There is a slight uncertainty as this could have been before his diaconal or presbyteral ordination).

At the time, Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald) was assigned to the parish next over, and, as Fr. Stephen Fitzgerald, would never have had access to this document were he not eventually consecrated to the episcopacy as the later replacement for then ruling bishop. Thus, having for a time licit access to these records, he took it upon himself to remember their gory details so that he could share them at an opportune time, such as commenting on the Monomakhos blog.

This Archimandrite is now finding himself accused in the most under-handed and passive-aggressive manner, which we can always trust Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald) to execute. Why he has decided to question Fr. X’s morality (or lack thereof) in a public forum rather than by following proper canonical procedures is a question only Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald) can answer.

In one post, Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald) smeared the reputation of one of his predecessors, a Bishop held in very high regard, an Archpriest and Father Confessor, and the Archimandrite.

It should be obvious to even the casual reader that Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald) wants us all to ask, “Gee, Vladyka, what canonical impediments could he have repented of?” Yes, folks, Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald) once again would like all of us to sit back and dream a bit about what ‘canonical impediments’ a 34-year-old single man can accomplish during his lifetime. He is pushing the ‘gutter button’ of every reader’s imagination, but he will obviously state that it is your fault. He didn’t really say what it is that the Archimandrite did. He just opened the door by suggesting there are problems.

Of course, in an age where ‘stolen emails’ are debated as to whether their contents should be heeded or ignored, the stolen confession of a seminarian by a hierarch will, I fear, go unnoticed.

The motives are not too hard to find either. The Archimandrite in question was considered the “front runner” in 1987 when Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald) was elected Bishop of San Francisco. Given that the Archimandrite is indeed learned while Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald) dropped out of SVS in his first year, one does wonder how he ever got to be the “dark horse” candidate, or a candidate at all.

Bishop Tikhon’s (Fitzgerald) swipe at the Father Confessor is also no surprise.

Psalm 126, vv 3-5 -- Lo, sons are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

One son of the Father Confessor, also a priest, was a vocal and never-anonymous critic of the Kondratick administration, continuing his demands that Bob Kondratick be called to account for his transgressions against the OCA. Another was the General Counsel for the OCA during Bob Kondratick’s 2008 lawsuit for $25 million.

Given that Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald) has never publicly repented of being a supporter of Bob Kondratick, we can see why he would want to smear the father of two men who shamed and ultimately defeated Bob Kondratick.

The real question is how long is this retired purveyor of stale gossip going to be allowed to trade on his high rank to violate both the Canons and simple decency, and this time to go so far as to divulge confessions??

(NOTE: While the original draft of this used the rather obvious names of the persons in question, and they are hardly difficult to figure, (the fact that Bp. Tikhon made it absolutely clear exactly of whom he was speaking is obviously one of the main points of this post.) Spartion has decided to edit this post so as not to further the break of confidence. So some of our readers will know, and others won't, but could probably figure it quickly. The identities of those gossiped about are not really germane. The depths to which Bp. Tikhon will sink to attack those against whom he has a grudge is.)