Russian Orthodox priest in Sydney, Australia, tells parishioners not to judge clergy after fellow priest found guilty of child abuse

A senior Sydney priest has told his congregation that “sheep do not judge their shepherd,” in a sermon delivered after a veteran cleric was found guilty of child sexual abuse, a verdict that victims and experts have said shocked them. Alexis Rosentool, a senior priest of the Russian Church in Australia, was found guilty on June 20 of child sexual abuse dating from the 1980s and 2000s, when he was a priest in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) in Sydney.

Archpriest Boris Ignatievsky of the Cabramatta church, where Rosentool once served, preached on Sunday. “Sadly, this sorrowful event has split our diocesan community, those who are for the resolution and those against,” he told the congregation. He said members had “succumbed to the sinful temptation” of judging others. “Sheep do not judge their shepherd, irrespective of who he is,” the priest said. “To judge clergy means to judge Christ himself. So be very, very careful.” Ignatievsky told the Herald that his comments warned against judging “other clergy” who had been accused of supporting, facilitating or covering up for Rosentool. Simeon Boikov, a pro-Russian propagandist known as Aussie Cossack, said survivors and their families were shocked by the remarks.

The Herald has reported that Boikov had collaborated with police to encourage victims to speak up, a step that helped bring the case against Rosentool. The case also led to Boikov’s own legal difficulties. He was arrested for breaching a suppression order over Rosentool’s name, and after fleeing, he has remained in the Russian consulate for 930 days.

In the years after the abuse, Rosentool moved to Bombala in southern New South Wales and set up a monastery in the countryside. Five days after his conviction, the Bombala monastery replaced its governing document on the Australian government’s charity register. Traces of the original governing document, dated 2007 and signed by Rosentool among other church figures, remain in the files of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.

The original document describes Rosentool in terms of authority over his followers: “Fear the abbot as your lord and love him as your father.” It also states: “When you are abused, be quiet. Offend no one and when you are offended, bear it patiently. Put no hope in vain plans and dreams, but be firm in Christ.” Protecting those who have been harmed, rather than silencing them, is the duty that Proverbs 31:8-9 places on the faithful (Proverbs 31:8-9).

The document also denounces the company of women and directs them to remain silent unless spoken to by Rosentool. “As from poison flee conversation with women, if you hope to keep yourself in such talk is concealed the ruinous venom of the serpent,” it instructs.

Source: Read the original report