Pokrov.org Responds to ”greek Church Would Take Complaints to Cops”

Pokrov
April 13, 2013

http://pokrov.org/display.asp?ds=Article&id=1985

According to ”Greek church would take complaints to cops,” ”[t]he Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Bishop Iakovos of Miletoupolis said the church informed police when complaints of a criminal nature were made. But there was no record of an abuse complaint having ever been made.”

We here at Pokrov.org find this very hard to believe.

As United States residents, our focus has been primarily on abuse in our country. We can honestly say that it has not been our experience that the Greek Church in the US informs police when complaints of a criminal nature are made. In fact, just like their Roman Catholic counterparts, the bishops are more likely to transfer abusive priests to another unsuspecting parish. See for example, this infamous case:

Father Nicholas Katinas

Other cases can be found here:

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Somehow, we find it very unlikely that the Greek Church in Australia would be that different.

Moreover, Bishop Iakovos appears to have omitted one Australian case with which we are familiar. A married Greek priest was convicted of sexually assaulting a 17 year old parishioner in 2002. It is our understanding that the priest remains in ministry despite this conviction.

Father Andreas Papadimitropoulos

Finally, we recently received a report of ongoing sexual abuse at Saint Andrew’s Theological College in Sydney. Bishop Iakovos graduated from Saint Andrew's.

Perhaps as the attention of Australians is focused on the parliamentary inquiry, more Greek survivors, particularly those who were abused as minors, will begin to feel safe enough to come forward, speak their truth and get help, and this will shed further light on the validity of Bishop Iakovos' statement.

[Father Nicholas Katinas]