Ashley, Pennsylvania, March 20, 2025
Bp. Saba with the now-deposed Abbess Aemilane. Photo: saintnina-monastery.org
The Georgian Orthodox Diocese in North America has defrocked and removed the heads of three of its monasteries in America.
The diocese announced on Tuesday:
To the faithful of our Holy Diocese, we announce that, as of March 17 of this year, the following clergy have been laicized:
Archimandrite Athanasios (Clark)—former abbot of St. James the Apostle Monastery in Oklahoma;
Archimandrite Christophoros (Khadasok)—former abbot of the Holy Spirit Monastery in Maryland.
Additionally, Abbess Aemiliane (Hanson), the former Hegumenia of St. Nina’s Monastery in Maryland, has been deposed from her position.
We call upon the faithful members of the Holy Orthodox Church to take this decision into full consideration.
The Georgian version of the announcement also adds that former Abbess Aemilane has been stripped of her rank of igumena.
The statement doesn’t provide any details about why the three have been canonically deposed. However, all three and their monasteries are associated with Elder Dionysios (Kalambokas), a highly controversial monk who is the spiritual head of a network of monasteries throughout Greece, Europe, and America.
Elder Dionysios and his monasteries, both abroad and in America, have bounced around between jurisdictions and have even been associated with non-canonical clergy. Elder Dionysios was reportedly expelled from both Mt. Athos and the Holy Land in the past, and was himself reportedly defrocked by the Church of Greece in 2022.
See here for more information about Elder Dionysios.
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