Holy Protection Monastery
Miami, Florida
Previously known as Monastery of the Exultation of the Most Holy Cross
Affiliated organization: Holy Cross Academy
Holy Protection Monastery and its brotherhood (including Fr. Abbot Gregory (Frank G.) Wendt, Fr. Damian (James A.) Gibault, monks Seraphim (Petro) Terenta, Nicholas (Vasyl) Kopich, and Novice Yosup Lembak) are located in Miami, Florida. The monastery was Byzantine Catholic until its reception into the OCA in October, 2003.
The monastery has a history of recruiting minor novices from the Ukraine. The novices go to school at the affiliated Holy Cross Academy until they graduate from High School. The Academy is a coed school which previously catered to Roman Catholic students. The Academy is a day school, except for the novices that live at the monastery. The novices are required to wear different uniforms than the rest of the student body.
According to the Miami Herald (April 27, 2001) video cameras observe Academy students as they walk through the building, study and even as they use the toilets. The pictures are directly fed to a monitor on Fr. Gregory Wendt's desk.
One of the novices (now Brother Seraphim), originally from the Ukraine, was adopted by Fr. Gregory Wendt. According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel (April 21, 2001), Fr. Damian Gibault tried to adopt Novice Mykhaylo Kofel who came to the monastery when he was fourteen years old. However, Kofel refused to cooperate with the adoption at the last minute.
Kofel is currently in jail, awaiting trial for the murder of a female novice, Michelle Lewis, at the monastery/Academy on March 25 2001. The killing occurred when he was eighteen years old. As part of his confession, the novice accused Fr. Gregory and Fr. Damian of molesting him.
According to the Miami Herald (November 16, 2002), Kofel said that ``Well, when I came from Ukraine, I thought it would be better that I escape from the abusing father, but on the other hand, Father Abbot [Wendt] and Father Damien, [James Gibault] they were also sexually abusing me''....
While none of the other Ukrainian students have corroborated Kofel's allegations, Brother Seraphim testified that he shared a bed with Fr. Gregory when they travelled, but there was never any sexual contact. Other witnesses testified that during trips, Father Gregory and Father Damien took separate rooms. Allegedly Brother Seraphim slept with Father Gregory and Kofel slept with Father Damien (The Miami Herald, December 20, 2002). Kofel passed a lie detector test as to the sexual abuse charges. The psychologist hired by the defense to examine Kofel also concluded that he was telling the truth.
According to the Miami Herald (September 27, 2002): "Defense attorneys said such information about sexual abuse in Kofel's life could prove crucial if he were convicted and faced the death penalty. They said Kofel's troubled background could be a mitigating argument to spare his life. "
Fr. Gregory and Fr. Damian were subpoenaed by the defense to a deposition in the murder case. Both monks took the fifth amendment to everything, other than questions regarding their names and addresses. "According to public defender Edith Georgi, 'in my twenty years as a lawyer, I have never seen a witness invoke their fifth amendment privlege to each and every question posed to them'..." (Miami Herald, September 4, 2002)
While the prosecuter, Gail Levine, has not filed formal charges of sexual abuse against the Fr. Gregory and Fr. Damian, she has also declined to subpoena them herself for the murder investigation. If Ms. Levine summoned the priests to a deposition, they would be granted immunity as to the sexual abuse charges. Because the prosecution regards the investigation into the abuse charges as still open, protracted litigation over which questions the priests should be made to answer has delayed resolution of the murder trial. 
