Cabramatta Pokrov: A Case Study in the Culture of the Coverup of Abuse
How the Sin of Omission occurs at a parish level.
Most Christians would be familiar with the term “The Great Commission”. The Great Commission was the instruction by Jesus to his disciples to go and spread the Word of the new faith around the world. It is mentioned in Matthew 28:16-20:
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
When it comes to the cover-up and silence about abuse in the Church, we may well use a similar term. Let us call it “The Great Omission”. In Christianity the focus is often on sins of commission, those things that we say or do that are wrong. However just as important and serious can be the sins of omission. In the bible, The parable of the Good Samaritan illustrates sins of omission. In the bible, the priest and the Levite, who passed by the injured man, (Luke 10:25-37) committed sins of omission by not helping him. He was there in front of them, lying in plain sight and yet they did nothing. In the setting of church communities and how they respond to cases of child sexual abuse, it most often is the sin of omission that is responsible for facilitating and allowing such abuse to continue. The victims are there, their case has been heard and decided, they are in pain and needing our support and yet some of our clergy would rather ignore their plight and have us all forget that anything even happened.
This week, the parish priest of Cabramatta Pokrov church, Fr Boris Ignatievsky returned to priestly duties following his brief suspension by Archbishop George. His controversial sermon of 29 June has now been widely circulated and many people are aware of it contents and how it was delivered in response to the conviction of former Cabramatta priest Alexis Rosentool. In retrospect it could be said, that the worst thing about this sermon is not what WAS said, but rather what was OMITTED. Specifically, it was the moment when Fr Boris stated:
“This week, a document was published from our diocese in which Archbishop George informed the flock of the conclusion of the trial of Archimandrite Alexis Rosentool. Many of you have already read this document. I WILL NOT GO INTO THE DETAILS.”
Considering the gravity of the case, its direct, historical connection to the Cabramatta Pokrov parish and the enormous and tragic impact it’s had on this same parish and the broader Russian Orthodox community, one wonders how there could be such a gross and wilful omission of such important details. More than anything, if one wanted to address and confront the issue of sexual abuse in the church, you would think that it was imperative at that point of the sermon to very much go into the details and:
To actually use the term “child sexual abuse” and call it out for what it is
To acknowledge there were victims in our very own community
To express horror and empathy and commit to improving systems to never let it happen again
Instead, the clear message from Fr Boris is that the details of Rosentool’s crimes are not important, and that they are in fact so trivial, that they do not need mentioning! What greater example can there be of a culture of cover-up ? Here we have the biggest and most serious case of sexual abuse in the Australian ROCOR history, and one specifically connected to the Cabramatta Pokrov parish, and the response from the most senior cleric of the parish is to sweep it under the carpet, and flatly refuse to “go into the details”. There is a modern term for when something is intentionally “forgotten”. This term is “Memory Holed”. "Memory Holed" refers to the deliberate suppression or erasure of information, often to manipulate history or control public perception. It's a term inspired by George Orwell's novel 1984, where "memory holes" were chutes used to destroy documents that contradicted the Party's narrative. Sadly what is seen here is the creation of a memory hole occurring in front of us and in full view of everyone on the ambon of the church.
The Silence of the Cabramatta Parish Council
In the same vein as the sermon, another example of the culture of silencing and cover-up has also been reported by numerous Cabramatta parishioners in regard to the silence of the parish council in providing any acknowledgement or comment on Fr Boris sermon, his suspension or the conviction of the former Cabramatta rector Alexis Rosentool. In most churches, Orthodox and otherwise, a parish council consists of predominantly lay people that are tasked with the various aspects of overseeing parish life and being a liaison between the clergy and the lay people of the parish.
Since the 29 June sermon and Fr Boris’s suspension on the 8th of July, there has not been a single communication from the Cabramatta parish council to the people of the parish. The council has many avenues to communicate with the parish, the foremost being a regularly updated Facebook page with over 1700 followers - a substantial audience. If the council wanted to communicate, it certainly has the means to do so.
Pokrov Truth has spoken with numerous parishioners that have contacted the council in the last 10 days and all have reported the same refusal of the council to even discuss the matter. One parishioner who dared to raise the matter with a senior council member was told in no uncertain terms: “This is none of your business. Fr Boris has the council’s full support”. Another parishioner who only agreed to be identified as “Tatiana” said that she was told by an older parish member that Fr Alexis was “special” to this church and that the conviction was the result of a conspiracy against him. A third parishioner who messaged the council secretary Mark Ganin, received the reply that confirmed there would be no comment and that “Fr Boris was copping it on the chin” and that any explanation (if any at all) would be left to a visiting priest that was urgently called in while Fr Boris served his suspension!
One would reasonably think, that in the unprecedented case of the suspension of the parish priest over his disobedience to his bishop, and refusal to address the conviction of his predecessor on sexual abuse charges, that the parish council would have a lot to communicate to its people and reassure them that it does take the matter of child sexual abuse in the church seriously. Surely this is part of their core responsibilities. However just as with the sermon, the behaviour of the parish council is the same. The approach is to deny, cover-up, deflect and memory hole anything to do with the issue. Secretary Ganin’s response that “Fr Boris is copping it on the chin” almost trivializes the matter as no big deal, just a small knock on the chin and then it’s back to business as usual. Nothing is addressed, nothing is fixed and an environment where future abuse can occur is made fertile and clean for the next predator to come along. The Bible speaks of this situation:
Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.” Matthew 12:44-45
It can be seen from the above examples, how the culture of silence and cover-up of sexual abuse happens on a local level. It must be clearly stated, that the overwhelming majority of parishioners at Pokrov Church Cabramatta are pious and faithful Orthodox Christians who simply want to come and pray and have honesty and accountability from their priests and council members. It is these good and honest people who deserve better than what has happened at Cabramatta in recent weeks.
If the Cabramatta Parish Council wants to do the right thing, it must immediately release a public statement condemning the crimes of Alexis Rosentool and expressing sorrow to the victims and the community. It must also make a commitment to actively help identify and dismantle the Rosentool support network wherever it is found. It must also publicly commit to child safeguarding and abuse prevention procedures in coordination with the ANZ Diocese. Anything less is simply unacceptable.
The Inquisition Cometh. Truth will be Restored.
