For context see both the Metropolitan Joseph: The Scandal section in our Archives 2020-22 and Teresa Hartnett’s articles on clergy sexual abuse in the alphabetical section of our Archives 2017-19 linked at the top of this page. The author of the present reflection is an Orthodox woman in her 30s who has asked that her identity not be published due to the sensitivity of her personal testimony. The particularities of the Metropolitan Joseph Scandal have not occurred in isolation, but point beyond to the pervasiveness of clergy sexual abuse specifically and spiritual/pastoral abuse more generally. We are appalled to note how many of the faithful blame the women involved in the Metropolitan Joseph Scandal, deride Orthodoxy in Dialogue for seeing them as victims, and somehow see Mr. Al-Zehlaoui as the victim.

In the 1990s, the previous incarnation of the Assembly of Canonical Bishops, SCOBA, organized a subcommittee to address sexual misconduct within the Orthodox churches. The subcommittee convened meetings and returned recommendations, including detailed descriptions of seminary coursework or continuing education units that should be required of all Orthodox seminarians and clergy in any jurisdiction. The members wanted to raise awareness and develop sensitivity around the issue of sexual abuse, in the areas of both prevention and responses to survivors.  One course, titled Clergy & Ministerial Sexual Misconduct, was to include an Orthodox understanding of personhood, sexuality, power and authority, and issues of vulnerability, with emphasis on practical experience. The training was to be mandated and documented. Read More

For context see the Metropolitan Joseph: The Scandal section in our Archives 2020-22 linked at the top of this page. Once again, Orthodoxy in Dialogue calls upon the Holy Synod of Antioch to depose the Metropolitan from holy orders at its meeting next week. No one wants to kiss his hand, hear him addressed as Your Eminence, or see him in vestments ever again. This is the same discipline that he would have meted out swiftly to any priest or deacon in the same circumstances—without the benefit of a retirement package.

Disgraced Former Metropolitan of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

The email sent by Joseph Al-Zehlaoui’s repentant former lover to Patriarch John of Antioch and the bishops, vicar general, and trustees of the Antiochian Archdiocese includes the following voicemail as an attachment. According to the email, then-Metropolitan Joseph placed this telephone call in the spring of 2022, a full five years after the author had terminated the relationship.  Those who know Al-Zehlaoui well will recognize his voice for themselves.

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For context see the Metropolitan Joseph: The Scandal section in our Archives 2020-22 linked at the top of this page.

On October 3, Orthodoxy in Dialogue reported on Father Michael Habib  of Twin Falls ID as the most likely face behind “Son of Antioch” at sonofantioch2022@gmail.com, creator of the two short-lived petitions and mass-emailings to overturn the resignation of the disgraced former metropolitan of the Antiochian Archdiocese. One of our tech-savvy readers obtained the above screenshot by logging into the Gmail account and selecting Recover Password. This definitively establishes  Father Habib’s identity via the connection between his email and YouTube accounts.

Another source informs us that Habib conscripted his own mother to conduct some of the mass-emailing. We have seen her email and know her name, but choose not to divulger her identity unless and until it becomes necessary to do so.

Why is this important? Read More

For context see the Metropolitan Joseph: The Scandal section in our Archives 2020-22 linked at the top of this page. With filial love, respect, and trust we urge Patriarch John to order the immediate removal of the former metropolitan’s image and name from church websites, institutions, letterhead, and liturgical commemoration, and the Holy Synod to depose said individual from holy orders as he himself would have surely done with any simple priest or deacon in similar circumstances. 

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