Chapter 34: Revenge Does Not Profit

We would be remiss if we did not mention the lawsuit that Holy Transfiguration Monastery brought against Archbishop Gregory and Dormition Skete.

After the demise of Transfiguration Monastery from the canonical synod of the Russian Church Abroad (The Russian Orthodox Church outside Russia), they sought revenge against Archbishop Gregory by suing him for copyright infringement to the amount of $20,000,000, so they could destroy Dormition Skete!

When the Genuine Orthodox Church of America opened up churches in Africa, the poor people and parishes of the Congo were beseeching the Archbishop for service books. Archbishop Gregory copied the service books that were used by the Church in America, and sent these prayers to the Congo by making them available online. These prayers were used by Archbishop Gregory as a member of the Russian Church Abroad since 1966. They were prayers that were published in the Russian Church Abroad with the blessing of Metropolitan Philaret and his synod of bishops, and were used freely by all the faithful, clergy and laity of the Russian Church, of which Archbishop Gregory was a part since 1965. They were translated over the years by Transfiguration Monastery and distributed with the blessing of the Russian bishops to all the English-speaking parishes of the Church.

Unbeknownst to Archbishop Gregory, after the clergy of Transfiguration Monastery were deposed by the Russian Church Abroad, the Monastery copyrighted everything that they had translated, and even things they didn't translate such as the Creed and the Lord's Prayer, that they published after they joined the Russian Church. Logic would demand that all these publications belonged to the Russian Church, but the government of the United States doesn't delve into such religious disputes, so legally since Transfiguration Monastery copyrighted them, they belonged to them. How someone can copyright the Lord's Prayer or the Creed and have a legal standing is beyond comprehension.

At any rate, when Archbishop Gregory offered the clergy in the Congo these service books of the Russian Church Abroad, he made them available online, so the people in Africa could download them. At this juncture, Transfiguration Monastery and especially the abbot Panteleimon, saw the opportunity to seek revenge for causing their monastery to be brought to trial for their immoral behavior.

They sued Archbishop Gregory for copyright infringement for millions of dollars for each prayer book that he posted online. This caused Archbishop Gregory an enormous burden and wasted countless hours in legal defense which lasted 8 years. The lawsuit was even presented to the Supreme Court, but in the end, Transfiguration Monastery, which spent over $50,000 to sue Archbishop Gregory prevailed. A summary judgment was issued that Archbishop Gregory should 1.) pay $40,000 to Transfiguration Monastery who could not prove any material losses by the alleged infringement and 2.) should be prevented from publishing any text similar to copyrighted material by Transfiguration Monastery!

The lawsuit started in April 2006 and ended in July 2014.

No more harassment of Archbishop Gregory has happened since, and when abbot Panteleimon died in 2016, it was learned that he died from kidney failure due to cancer of the pancreas, and that this cancer was discovered in April 2006, the same month and year that he initiated the lawsuit, a lawsuit which is forbidden by the Holy Scriptures and the canons of the Church. Even though he was afflicted with cancer, he did not repent.

Archbishop Gregory Dormition Skete P.O. Box 3177 Buena Vista, CO 81211-3177 USA
		Copyright 2011 - Archbishop Gregory Last Updated: July 12, 2011