State May Seize Blanco Monastery; Weeping Icon a "Phony"

The State of Texas may classify the "monastery" in Blanco, Texas, "contraband" and declare it state property.

Also of note in the story, a longtime defender of the monks, Anglican priest Fr. Thomas Flower, says the monastery's founder confessed the famous "Weeping Icon" is a fraud:

[Fr. Tom] Flower, an Anglican priest who's long supported [Samuel "Fr. Benedict"]Greene and vouched for the icon's legitimacy, is still reeling from Greene's admission that the icon is fake.

"I confronted him. I said I want to know the truth, were the tears real or phony? And he said they were phony," a dejected Flower said. "I believed it all these years. I really did. I believed it firmly in my heart. I can't tell you how upset I am."

Perhaps one-trillionth as "upset" as the victims, their families, and Jesus?

D.A. Sam Oatman is visiting the Lone Star State's wrath upon the alleged perpetrators, arguing he can confiscate the property because the site was the site of child molestation, fraud, theft, and money laundering. In other words, this Pseudodox "sanctuary" is being treated with all the reverence of a crack house. (As I noted, both the local sheriff and Oatman have said as much.) That's appropriate enough, since according to another source, "In the search warrant, Greene says he seduced the teen with marijuana and porn."

The media have also divulged new details on the second accuser. It is distinctly unedifying:

Another alleged victim, 24-year-old James Wright Jr., also claims he was abused after being sent to the monastery at age 15 for "acting out." He filed a lawsuit this month against Greene, two other monks, and Ecumenical Monks Inc. Wright's suit details alleged abuse, including a "sexual orgy encounter," sodomy, and fondling.

If convicted, the "monks" could face a minimum of five and a maximum of 99-years-to-life in prison. If guilty, that would be the least of their punishment.

May they repent, confess, and atone through an appropriate sentence; may God spare others from the fate of their victim(s); and may genuine Orthodoxy not be judged by the perverse actions they carried out in its name.