An Interview with Archbishop Michael

Photo courtesy of the Diocese of New York & New Jersey

Archbishop Michael (Dahulich) was consecrated bishop of the Diocese of New York and New Jersey on March 30, 2010. In this interview, he reflects on his first decade, the state of the diocese under Covid-19, and the Church’s responsibilities in times of social crisis.

When you became bishop, you had several decades’ worth of experience in parish ministry. But I would think your current role is much different.

Before I became the Dean of St. Tikhon’s Seminary and then a bishop, I had 28 ½ years of experience in two communities as a parish priest. That’s all I ever wanted to be since I was 14: a priest. That’s all I really ever knew. I brought that experience to the seminary and to our Diocese. I looked at the seminary community —faculty, staff and students and their families — as a family, just as I look at the clergy and faithful of the Diocese as a family. And I try to be a father as best I can.

Can you describe what that transition has been like?

The large amount of travel that I have to do is difficult in the sense that I am not a fan of driving, especially long distances. I like to go places and I love arriving there and staying there. The challenge for me is getting there and then back home— especially in the winter. In parish life, you are pretty much set in one

place. A bishop travels every weekend — the canons say a bishop should visit his parishes at least once every year — so during Lent, sometimes I am in four parishes each week. I am grateful that, at least on weekends, I have a driver.

What parts of the bishopric were you not prepared for?

I think that seriously disciplining clergy is the hardest thing for me. Having to take away someone’s priesthood or diaconate— there is no more painful a decision or action that I can think of. Nothing prepares you for it, even the experience of having done it before. It is heart-wrenching, almost like throwing a son or daughter out of the household. No parent is ever prepared to do that.

Is there anything you’ve had to unlearn?

The work I do is sometimes very challenging, and I have to remind myself not to take it personally. I can’t make it about me. My first responsibility is to the Lord; I am just a “vessel of clay in the Potter’s hand,” in the words of Jeremiah. I serve at His pleasure, and one day someone else will be the bishop of New York and New Jersey. It can’t be just my vision, only my program, always my way — it has to be the Master’s way. That’s why I seek the counsel of my chancellors and deans, the members of the Synod and His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon: so that I don’t make it about me.

Could you describe a couple of the most memorable events of your tenure?

I was privileged to serve Liturgy in the Holy Land, especially at Bethany School for Girls, which our diocese supported. There are a number of orphaned Orthodox Christian girls there, and it is run by Russian Orthodox nuns. Those girls sang the responses to the Liturgy for us! I was also invited to help consecrate a new church in Slovakia, not far from where my grandparents lived before they came to America. And I was privileged to be the guest at the annual Pilgrimage for the Feast of the Transfiguration at Grabarka, Poland — with 27,000 pilgrims in attendance — to help anoint at Vigil and help give Communion at Liturgy to throngs and throngs of faithful!

You are still an administrator at St. Tikhon’s as well. How do you balance those responsibilities with your work in our diocese?

Yes, I serve as the rector (the bishop who oversees the seminary) and I teach Scripture and Ethics there, usually three courses in the fall semester and two in the spring (because of the demands of Lent). I pretty much focus the first part of each week on St. Tikhon’s and the rest of each week on the Diocese.

Do you see a relationship between the two?

I think the relationship between the two is teaching. As a professor, my chief job is to teach my students; and as a bishop, one of my chief roles is that of teacher. In fact, I am prayed for in the Liturgy to “rightly divide the word of Thy truth.” So, I teach future deacons and priests at St. Tikhon’s, and clergy and faithful in the Diocese, by the words I speak, and hopefully by the example I set. Also, seminarians inspire me with their yearning to learn, their exuberance to serve, and their love for the Lord. Teaching them rejuvenates me for the work I do as a bishop.

Could you give us a brief rundown on the state of the Diocese?

These are certainly challenging times for the Church, here in America and throughout the world. Secularism, materialism, and atheism are all on the rise. Many younger people want to be “spiritual” but not affiliated with a given church. The “nones and dones” are also on the rise. Often people don’t stay in New York and New Jersey all their lives, like my grandparents and parents did; the cost of living, job opportunities, taxes, and the weather all invite them to move, especially to the South.

However, I am pleased to say that over the last few years, we have seen consistent growth of a few hundred new people each year in our parishes, many of them young. We have opened a number of mission parishes in the last 10 years and have ordained more deacons and priests. In fact, there are now three deacons and three priests awaiting ordination. And we have a few Diocesan students who will be studying at St. Vladimir’s and St. Tikhon’s Seminaries when the new school year begins. But we still need more priests. There are senior priests who can’t retire until we have replacements, and there are missions we would like to open but we need priests to serve them. So please pray for vocations; please support our seminarians.

What kinds of trends were we seeing before the pandemic? Where are parishes growing and where are they shrinking? What were you observing on your pastoral visits?

I would explain the trends this way: It is much harder for parishes with older demographics to grow.

People seeking a faith are looking for it in a community’s life. Parish growth is most consistently evident, I have found, in parishes where the priest is working very hard and has members of his parish working with him, inviting people to come and see, to visit the parish; welcoming newcomers; helping them understand the services; introducing them to others at the fellowship hour; often becoming their sponsors. When parish growth is seen as (almost) everyone’s responsibility, the results can be phenomenal! And once these new people are received, like St. Paul, we have to make sure they remain solid in the faith, with follow-up and encouragement.

How have the events of the past couple months changed the overall state of affairs?

The pandemic stopped every parish in its tracks. For many weeks, parish churches were either completely closed (if priests were elderly or compromised health-wise), or reduced to skeleton crews of less than five persons. It was an unprecedented challenge to Church life. We accepted these limitations, not because we thought Church life was not essential, as some authorities did state, but out of love for our brothers and sisters, to stop the spread of the virus and help preserve as many lives as possible. For months, of course, New York and New Jersey—especially New York City— constituted the epicenter of this pandemic in our country.

Our clergy’s response has been incredibly creative. Most parishes began live-streaming their limited services. Bible studies, educational classes, council meetings, and even coffee hour have migrated to online video platforms. Many priests told me their online participation exceeded what they had had in person before the pandemic — no doubt, in part, because there was such a reduction in other activities that competed with the programs offered by the Church.

What will be your biggest concerns on the other side of this, and what has given you hope lately?

I certainly hope that everyone who was coming to church before the pandemic struck will return, and that people who discovered services online will visit and stay. I certainly pray that no one, having stayed home for all this time, will choose to continue doing so once conditions are safe again.

Of course, I am hopeful that as good stewards, our faithful will continue contributing for the day-today operation of their parishes. Parish budgets depend upon faithful giving. I say that knowing that the economic consequences of this pandemic, including the permanent loss of millions of jobs, present us with longterm challenges. Truly, it is not an easy time. But so far, donations made online or by mail have sustained our churches through this time of crisis.

Now we’re living through even more upheaval, this time over race relations and policing. How should church leaders respond to something like this?

It is most appropriate for bishops to take a public stance in the face of tragic events like those that have unfolded in our country in the past few weeks. The Church, through Her hierarchs, must condemn racism and inequality, hatred and prejudice, and brutality and abuse, as well as actions of violence and vengeance. It is our role to present the alternatives of Christ — seeing in everyone the image and likeness of God; following the Golden Rule; offering the fruits of the Spirit; not repaying evil with evil, but overcoming evil with good; and loving our neighbor and loving even those who hate us.

Many of us Orthodox in America take pride in the moment when Archbishop Iakovos, from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, marched with Martin Luther King in 1965. How do you think that moment compares to this one?

Speaking of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we do well to remember his words on this subject: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate; violence multiplies violence in a descending spiral of destruction.”

Peaceful marches of protest are a distinctive hallmark of American freedom and progress. And when Archbishop Iakovos marched with Dr. King, that was a monumental moment in our Church’s history and our relationship with the entire African American community. This year Archbishop Elpidophoros, also of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, marched in New York City with peaceful protestors, as did some of our clergy. That’s a great thing.

I have marched every year in support of the pro-life movement. I didn’t march this past month, because of the pandemic. Not everyone was wearing masks or social distancing. I am over 65, and I have an injured lung from a car accident many years ago, which makes me susceptible. But taking a peaceful stand is important.

However, the work of establishing justice and equality, and peace and love among all peoples in our country, cannot be achieved by one-time efforts alone; it must be an ongoing process of change, of true repentance. And some kinds of evil, according to our Savior, are only driven out “by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:21). This is why I have invited all of our Diocesan family to join with me in a “Year Dedicated to Reconciliation and An End to Civil Strife” by praying and fasting on the first day of every month, beginning Wednesday, July 1: by praying the Akathist to the African Saints, and the Prayer for Racial Reconciliation, at 12:00 noon, and abstaining from eating lunch that day. (For those who cannot pray and fast at noon that day, they should choose another meal from which to fast, and another time to pray the Akathist, or at least offer the Prayer for Racial Reconciliation, which is at the conclusion of the service, if that is all that they have time to do).

We need to ask the Lord to help each of us become an instrument of peace and reconciliation. Those who truly pray and fast for this cause cannot be at the same time instruments of hatred and violence. We need to pray to Him to bring an end to the strife that divides the people of this country from one another, and to make us all instruments of that process.

Interview by Nick Tabor