Greek Orthodox Church on sexual harassment: humans err!

Following cases of sexual harassment of children at the SOS village and the Social Welfare Institutions (Dar Al Aytam), as well as, the case of Father Mansur Labaki, Al Akhbar newspaper revealed today that a hearing is scheduled tomorrow at the Appellate Greek Orthodox Court to look into the case of sexual harassment of two underage children against Archimandrite Pandalaymun Farah, abbot of Sayidat Hamatora (Kosba in the North) Monastery. The lawsuit has been suspended for over 3 years and considered an internal church matter. It all started in 2012, the newspaper wrote, when Farah was referred to the Disciplinary Council Seminary upon instructions of the Greek Orthodox Diocese following a grievance it received about a 15-year old boy who admitted to being sexually abused during confession sessions with priest Farah. Later on, an administrative decision was released by the Archbishop of Byblos and Batroon banning Farah from performing priesthood services, including confessions, and from travel. Farah, Al Akhbar mentioned, denied the charges against him and refused to comply with the Diocese orders, arguing, as he said, the voluntary submission to the church he enjoys among the ‘community of (Christian) believers’. The newspaper also pointed out that Farah has been in the past involved with a same sex scandal, but the case has been dropped to resurface in 2013 with the sexual harassment case as ‘a conspiracy sown by evil people’, according to the Diocese. As such, the Church stressed the need to conceal the disgrace and protect the Orthodox sect against the “gloating of other sects”, admitting that “a human in the end is only a human” and that “repentance is recognized by the church”. In this respect, a number of parishes belonging to the Antiochian Orthodox Church rejected in a statement any attempt to cover up sexual harassment crimes and to hold perpetrators accountable for their acts. (For further details regarding the statement of the church parishes, please visit the following link: http://al-akhbar.com/sites/)