On another site, I encountered a “monk”, whose status was, by his own admission, self-proclaimed; he lived with another monk, both self proclaimed Rassaphores, and the two lived in relative poverty in the Southwest, allegedly Melkite monks, but no official record of them exists. This self-proclaimed monk had a disturbing tendency to get in debates with other Catholics and with Orthodox and other traditional Christians attacking the various churches for adhering to a traditional stance on homosexuality. I spoke with him on the phone once, which was a mistake; he bashed heavily Elder Ephrem for allegedly having denied a Melkite bishop access to St. Anthony’s (if a Melkite bishop turned up unannounced and without appropriate ecumenical discussion, I think an Orthodox hegumen would be in their rights to deny them entry; monastic hospitality does not extend to people outside the church). I don’t doubt that the two monks had some kind of sense of vocation, but I doubt their status was remotely canonical, and the whole situation was odd, particularly the heated debates this monk would get himself in against traditional positions.
On the other hand, I very much like the blog on AFR of Abbot Tryphon. I would love to meet him and see his monastery.
I have also encountered a blog by an Anglican Benedictine from a monastery that is rebuilding after being wiped out by fire which struck me as a very nice, humble blog, which communicated the day to day of their monastic experience in a non-polemical and edifying manner.
Of all of these however the crown jewell is surely Abbot Tryphon.
My suspicion is that many of the most vocal and vitriolic “monastics” posting online, Orthodox or otherwise, are either illegitimate or are acting without their superiors clearly understanding the implications of their actions, and thus obtained a “blessing” for trolling by means of representation.
