Judgment and Accusation Against Clergy: Great Sins

Introduction

Among the most subtle, yet most destructive, passions of the spiritual life is judgment. It does not always appear to be a great sin, because it is often hidden behind the pretext of “truth,” “justice,” “indignation,” or even supposed piety. The person who judges often does not think he is sinning; he imagines that he is simply seeing, evaluating, commenting, correcting, or revealing. Yet in its depth, judgment is a seizure of the throne of God, because man makes himself the judge of his brother.

An even heavier form of judgment is accusation against clergy: slander, evil-speaking, backbiting, public or hidden humiliation, contempt, and passionate criticism of clerics. The Orthodox Church does not teach that clergy are sinless. Nor does she deny the need for canonical accountability, ecclesiastical order, and spiritual discernment. But one thing is the responsible, humble, and canonical handling of serious problems; another is passionate accusation against clergy, which poisons the soul, scandalizes the weak, and wounds the Body of the Church.

1. What is judgment?

Judgment is not simply the discernment of good from evil. Discernment is a virtue. The Christian must distinguish truth from delusion, virtue from sin, light from darkness. But discernment is one thing, and judgment is another.

Judgment occurs when I do not limit myself to discerning an action as evil, but condemn the person. It happens when I take the place of God and pronounce judgment on the heart, motives, final state, and salvation of another. It happens when my tongue becomes a courtroom, when my thought becomes a throne of pride, when my heart rejoices in the fall of my brother.

Christ said clearly: “Judge not, that you be not judged.” He does not forbid discernment. He forbids the condemnation of the person. For only God knows the heart. Only God knows a person’s history, wounds, ignorance, struggle, repentance, and the final moment of his soul.

The Apostle Paul says: “Who are you to judge another’s servant?” My neighbor is not my servant, so that I may judge him. He is God’s servant. Before his own Master he stands or falls.

2. Why is judgment such a great sin?

Judgment is a great sin for many reasons.

First, because it is born from pride. The one who judges considers himself to stand higher than the other. Even if he does not say it, he implies it. Judgment is hidden self-justification.

Second, because it darkens the mind. When a person constantly occupies himself with the faults of others, he loses inner watchfulness. Instead of seeing his own passions, he becomes an observer of the falls of others.

Third, because it extinguishes love. The person who judges does not see his neighbor as a brother, but as an object of commentary. His heart becomes hard.

Fourth, because it usurps the work of God. God alone is the Judge. When I condemn another, I ascend a throne that does not belong to me.

Fifth, because it harms the one who listens as well. Backbiting defiles two souls: the one who speaks and the one who listens. One sins with the tongue; the other with the hearing and with consent.

For this reason, the Holy Fathers consider judgment one of the most fearful spiritual wounds.

3. Judgment and the Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee

The Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee is fundamental for understanding judgment. The Pharisee is not condemned because he fasted, prayed, or gave tithes. These are good things. He is condemned because he turned his virtue into pride and his prayer into judgment.

He said: “I am not like other men… or even like this tax collector.” At that moment, he was not praying to God; he was admiring himself and condemning another.

The Publican, by contrast, had no virtues to present. But he had a broken heart. He did not look at the Pharisee. He did not compare. He did not justify himself. He said only: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

And Christ says that the Publican went down justified. The parable shows that judgment can annul outward virtues, while humility can open the door of mercy.

4. What is accusation against clergy?

Accusation against clergy is judgment, evil-speaking, backbiting, slander, or passionate insult directed against clerics: deacons, priests, and bishops. It does not concern only lies. Even when something contains an element of truth, its passionate spreading, public humiliation, malicious delight, contempt, and the causing of scandal can become a grave sin.

The cleric is a man. He has weaknesses, temptations, labors, wounds, and limitations. Yet he does not cease to bear the grace of the priesthood. The priesthood is not the personal achievement of the cleric, but a gift of God to the Church. The priest does not celebrate the Mysteries because he is personally perfect, but because the grace of God works within the Church.

Accusation against clergy is grave because it does not wound only one person. It wounds the trust of the faithful in the Church, scandalizes the weak, cultivates contempt for the Mysteries, and creates factions, divisions, coldness, and rebellion.

5. The priest as a minister of God

The priest is present in the life of the faithful from birth until death. He blesses the child. He baptizes. He chrismates. He celebrates the Divine Liturgy. He offers the Body and Blood of Christ. He hears confession. He reads the prayer of absolution. He crowns the marriage. He blesses the home. He prays in sickness. He accompanies the faithful person on his final journey.

This does not mean that the priest should be worshiped or considered infallible. It means that his ministry must be honored. Saint John Chrysostom speaks with awe about the priesthood, because the priest serves Mysteries that even the angels do not perform. In the Divine Liturgy he stands before the Holy Table and invokes the Holy Spirit.

If the faithful person respects the physician who heals the body, how much more should he respect the spiritual minister who serves the Mysteries of salvation? If he respects the judge, the teacher, the ruler, how much more should he respect the one who stands before God and prays for the people?

6. The sinfulness of the cleric and the validity of the Mysteries

A serious theological question is this: if the priest is sinful, are the Mysteries he celebrates valid? The Orthodox Church answers that the Mysteries do not depend on the personal holiness of the cleric, but on the grace of God and the order of the Church.

Certainly, the cleric is called to holiness, purity, repentance, and the fear of God. The unworthiness of the minister is a fearful burden for him personally. Yet the grace of God does not become hostage to human weakness. If the Mysteries depended on the perfection of the cleric, no one could be certain of anything.

The faithful person does not commune of the virtue of the priest; he communes of the Body and Blood of Christ. He is not baptized in the name of the priest; he is baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity. He does not receive forgiveness from human power; he receives the mercy of God through the Church.

This distinction protects the people from two dangers: clericalism, which deifies the person of the cleric, and contempt, which invalidates the grace of the priesthood because of human weaknesses.

7. Correction is one thing; accusation against clergy is another

The Orthodox Church does not teach blind tolerance toward serious deviations. There are cases in which a real problem must be reported to the proper canonical ecclesiastical authority. There are cases of abuse, heresy, scandalous behavior, or serious violation that require responsible handling. Silence in such cases can become complicity.

Yet responsible canonical reporting differs radically from accusation against clergy.

Canonical reporting is done with pain, humility, accuracy, love for the Church, and without any desire for public humiliation. Accusation against clergy is done with anger, malicious delight, rumor, exaggeration, spreading of stories, factionalism, and passion.

The first seeks healing. The second seeks victory.

The first respects ecclesiastical order. The second sets up a people’s tribunal.

The first grieves over the wound. The second feeds on the scandal.

Therefore, when there is a serious issue, the faithful person must not turn it into gossip, social revenge, or public stoning. He must act with prayer, documentation, respect, and through the canonical path.

8. Accusation against clergy as a wound of the parish

A parish can be destroyed not only by external persecutions, but also by internal backbiting. When suspicion begins, when people speak behind one another’s backs, when rumors are spread and factions are formed, then the Eucharistic community is poisoned.

Accusation against clergy usually does not remain alone. It brings with it disobedience, coldness, factions, distancing from the Mysteries, questioning of every pastoral action, and the intrusion of worldly criteria into ecclesiastical life.

When the faithful person sees the priest only as an administrator, employee, president, executor of people’s wishes, or someone to be constantly evaluated, then the mystery of the priesthood is lost. The parish becomes an association. The Divine Liturgy becomes a custom. The church becomes a place of social conflict.

The Orthodox Church, however, is not an association of interests. She is the Body of Christ. And whoever wounds ecclesiastical unity through judgment and accusation against clergy must understand that he is not playing with human affairs, but with spiritual fire.

9. Why do people judge?

Judgment is born from many roots.

From pride: “I know better.”

From envy: “I cannot bear that another is honored.”

From wounded ego: “My will was not done.”

From idleness: when the mind has no prayer, it fills itself with commentary.

From lack of self-knowledge: whoever does not see his own passions constantly sees those of others.

From demonic suggestion: the evil one wants to divide love and unity.

From false zeal: the person thinks he is fighting for the Church, but in reality he is passionately fighting against persons.

Healing begins when a person stops justifying his judgment and confesses: “My tongue has become sick, my heart has hardened, my mind has been darkened.”

10. The difference between truth and backbiting

Many say: “But I am telling the truth.” Yet it is not enough for something to be true in order for it to be spoken. Truth without love can become a knife. Truth without discernment can become scandal. Truth without humility can become pride.

Before I speak about another person’s fault, I must ask:

• Am I saying this out of love or out of anger?

• Do I want healing or humiliation?

• Is it necessary to say it?

• Am I the right person to say it?

• Am I saying it to the right person, or am I spreading it?

• Have I prayed for the one I accuse?

• Do I grieve, or do I rejoice that I found an occasion?

If there is no love, discernment, and necessity, silence is often holier than our “truth.”

11. The spiritual danger of the “supposedly pious” accuser

One of the most dangerous phenomena is the supposedly pious accuser. He does not appear as an enemy of the Church, but as her protector. He speaks about tradition, order, truth, and Orthodoxy, but his manner is full of anger, contempt, pride, and harshness.

The Fathers teach us that the truth of Christ cannot be separated from the ethos of Christ. I cannot defend the truth with hatred. I cannot protect the Church by destroying love. I cannot fight delusion with passion and think that I am serving the Spirit of Truth.

Christ rebuked hypocrisy severely, but He also wept over Jerusalem. True pastoral correction grieves. Passionate judgment delights in the fall of the other.

12. How is judgment healed?

The healing of judgment requires spiritual struggle.

First, through self-reproach. Not unhealthy guilt, but sober awareness of my own passions. When I see my own wounds, I do not rush to condemn another.

Second, through prayer for the one who scandalizes me. You cannot easily judge the person for whom you pray with tears.

Third, through silence. Silence is medicine for the tongue. When the heart is boiling, the tongue must be bound by prayer.

Fourth, through confession. Judgment must be confessed as sin, not justified as truth.

Fifth, through remembrance of death. When I remember that I will stand before God, I stop playing the judge of others.

Sixth, through love. Love covers, heals, prays, corrects with humility, and does not humiliate.

13. How should we stand toward clergy?

The faithful person should stand toward clergy with respect, prayer, discernment, and an ecclesiastical mind.

He should pray for his priest. The priest faces many temptations, labors, pressures, sorrows, slanders, and the burdens of souls.

He should not deify him. The cleric is a man and needs repentance.

He should not despise him. He bears a grace and ministry that are not his own, but belong to the Church.

He should not spread rumors. Whatever cannot be said responsibly and lovingly through the proper ecclesiastical path should not become coffee-shop conversation.

He should distinguish human weakness from the priesthood. He may not be at peace with the character of a certain cleric, but he is not justified in despising the priesthood.

He should seek canonical help when there is a serious problem, but without passion and public humiliation.

14. Judgment as an obstacle to Holy Communion

Holy Communion is the Mystery of union with Christ and with our brothers and sisters. How can a person receive Christ while harboring hatred, judgment, contempt, and slander within his heart?

The Apostle Paul warns against unworthy participation in the Holy Eucharist. Unworthiness does not mean that we must be perfect, for then no one would ever commune. It means that we must approach with repentance. If I consciously cling to judgment and refuse to repent, then my heart is closed.

Before approaching the Chalice, the Church calls us to be reconciled, to forgive, and to cleanse our tongue and heart. Christ is not separated from His Body. I cannot claim to love Christ while at the same time tearing apart His members with my tongue.

15. A spiritual exhortation

My brother, if you see another person fall, do not judge him. Pray for him. If you can help with humility, help. If you cannot, remain silent. Do not become a second wound upon his wound.

If you see a cleric who has weaknesses, do not forget that he too is engaged in spiritual warfare. Pray for him. If there is a serious issue, follow the ecclesiastical path. But do not defile your soul with accusations against clergy.

If you have fallen into judgment, do not despair. Repent. Go to confession. Ask God to heal your tongue, your mind, and your heart. Learn to say:

“Lord, grant me to see my own sins and not to judge my brother.”

Conclusion

Judgment and accusation against clergy are great sins because they wound love, darken the mind, give birth to pride, destroy ecclesiastical unity, and transform a repentant sinner into a harsh judge.

The Orthodox Church does not call us to be undiscerning, nor to tolerate injustice or falsehood. She does, however, call us to discern without pride, to correct without hatred, to heal without humiliation, and to protect the Church without destroying love.

True spiritual life begins when I stop constantly looking at the faults of others and begin to look at my own heart. It begins when my tongue becomes a prayer instead of a knife; when my thoughts become mercy instead of a courtroom; when, instead of condemning my brother, I say:

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Protect me from judgment.

Grant me a humble heart, a pure tongue, and an enlightened mind.

Teach me to cover others with love, to correct with discernment, and to pray for all. Amen.