Turmoil envelops Antiochian church in the USA

When Bishop Mark Maymon of Toledo (picture) attended a recent regional conference in Cincinnati for the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church, local police were on guard because of threats made by a member of the denomination's board of trustees.

The threats by e-mail from Walid Khalife of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., accused the bishop of being a "traitor," a "liar," and a "dictator," and said the bishop needed to be "taught a lesson." Mr. Khalife also threatened and insulted other Antiochian clergy via e-mail, and Sgt. Keith Schoonover of the Sharonville, Ohio, Police Department, which provided the security at the conference July 1-5 in Cincinnati, said "the suspect has been contacted" by police in his hometown.

Bishop Mark, who was enthroned in 2005 as bishop of Toledo and the Midwest Diocese, said in an interview that the police and FBI were notified because "you don't know what's going on in a person's mind" and "you want to protect them from doing harm to themselves and you certainly want to protect the people who are coming together at the hotel." MORE HERE