Parish Council Member Expelled after Calling for Fr. Katinas to Be Deposed, Orthodox Reform [Dallas], April 19, 2007

Parish Council Member Expelled after Calling for Fr. Katinas to Be Deposed

Orthodox Reform [Dallas]
April 19, 2007

http://orthodoxreform.org/cases/fr-nicholas-katinas/parish-council-member-expelled-after-calling-for-fr-katinas-to-be-deposed/

Dean Siotos, who less than a week ago mailed a letter to the Greek Hierarchs critical of their handling of a local priest accused of sexual misconduct with minors, has been expelled from the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church parish council, pending formal dismissal by Metropolitan Isaiah.

Why did the organization of this Dallas church seek to have Siotos removed from the council? Apparently his letter (reported in an earlier article) caused uproar among Fr. Katinas's supporters both on and off of the parish council.

This letter was co-signed by 11 other parishioners. In it Siotos argued from canon law that known pedophiles such as Fr. Katinas should be deposed. The letter stated: "We request that Nicholas Katinas be defrocked immediately."

The report we received gave this summary of the meeting:

At a parish council meeting Monday, April 16th, Fr. Christopher Constantinides, head priest at Holy Trinity, added this topic to the meeting agenda as a last minute "special issue."

The parish council president and Fr. Constantinides reportedly stated that as a parish council member, Dean Siotos had no right to send such a letter without the review and approval of the parish council and Fr. Constantinides.

Fr. Constantinides said he received a call from the Archbishop who was unhappy with the letter and concerned because he believed it was from the parish council.

Siotos was charged with "betraying his oath" as a parish council member by mentioning he was on the parish council in the letter. The charge was made that by writing such a letter Siotos was implying that he spoke for the entire parish council and the church at large.

Siotos disputed that such an inference could be drawn from his letter, but offered to write a follow-up letter clarifying that the views were his and his co-signers, and the letter was not meant to imply that it represented the official views of the entire parish council. This offer was rejected.

Siotos was then informed he had two options. He could either make a full retraction of his letter or he could resign from the council. Siotos explained that his expression of personal opinions regarding the confirmed sexual misconduct of Fr. Nicholas Katinas was in no way a violation of his oath, and refused both options.

After asking Siotos to leave the room, the council deliberated privately. When Siotos returned, Fr. Constantinides informed him that, per the presentation of the matter by Fr. Constantinides, the members present had voted to remove him from the parish council.

Although the vote to remove Siotos had already been taken, Fr. Constantinides again advised Siotos he could still remain on the council if he rescinded the letter. Siotos again refused.

Siotos offered the following comment to Orthodox Reform:

If this level of resistance from clergy and our local parish organization can result from a request for action based on confirmed sexual misconduct by clergy, one can only imagine the obstacles faced by those reporting such misconduct for the first time. It's not difficult to understand why clergy sexual misconduct goes unreported for years, and is often never reported.

An emerging story from another parish — this incident in Salt Lake City — relates a similar situation, where reportedly a parishioner was booted from the parish council by the Bishop and excommunicated:

Archbishop Isaiah recently sent out a letter and asked that we, Greek Orthodox Christians, embrace compassion and forgive a heretofore respected clergyman of many years who, it was discovered, had engaged in acts of pedophilia with an altar boy.

…where is the consistency in our hierarch's actions toward our fellow parishioner who, for reasons that are trifling in comparison to those of the clergyman, was removed from the Parish Council and was excommunicated for five years, including being denied the right to Orthodox Christian burial?

The Greek Orthodox Faithful are beginning to ask serious questions given these recent reports.