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Published by
Politika Themata,
March 17, 2005
Phanar games with Yiosakis and Patmos
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The Ecumenical Patriarchate connected
to the Archimandrite and the Monastery
scandals
A revealing account of the great money and
real estate racket
With reports
by Patmian journalist Nikos Melianos, Rhodian
newspapers Dimokratiki, Gnomi and Rodiaki and by
the New York-based Greek-American daily The
National Herald
(Politika
Themata, Issue Nr. 1459 - March
17, 2005) The affair of embezzlement on the
island of Patmos reveals incredible Byzantine
intrigues with leading roles played by the former
Chief-Secretary of the Holy Synod, Meliton Karras,
and even Patriarch Bartholomew himself. Meliton,
soundly criticized for his involvement in numerous
transactions made by the historical Monastery of
the island, was recently dismissed from his
position as Chief-Secretary of the Phanar so that
the Center of Orthodoxy could be absolved of any
connection to the scandals. However, there can be
no hiding from the fact that the holy site where
Saint John wrote the Revelation reeks of secret
dealings, illegal transactions and bloated bank
accounts of abbots and monks and is in dire need
of immediate cleansing.
It is imperative here that we not forget
Metropolitan Meliton's role in the Yosakis affair
for it was the Synod's former Chief-Secretary,
together with Metropolitan Athenagoras of Panama,
who forwarded the application of Iakovos Yosakis
to the Archdiocese of America in 1998. An
application that was, of course, rejected by
Archbishop Spyridon's chancellor, Fr George
Passias, given Yiosakis' dubious file. And,
according to well-informed sources, it was Meliton
himself who recommended Yosakis to the Old
Calendarist bishops, Paissios and Vikentios, who,
however, eventually expelled him from Chicago when
they were confronted with irregularities
perpetrated by the now jailed archimandrite.
A History of Pillage
On the island of Patmos, the former abbot of the
Monastery, Isidoros Krikris, currently under
indictment for financial irregularities, had
prepared things so that certain hierarchs of the
Throne ---chiefly Patriarch Bartholomew and
Meliton Karras, his Chief-Secretary until a few
weeks ago--- could profit privately. As early as
1983, Krikris is known to have been siphoning
abundant sums from the Monastery and accompanying
hierarchs of the Throne on their frequent trips
across the world so as to be able to pay for their
lavish demands. It is also well known that
Bartholomew Arhontonis, before being elected to
the Patriarchal Throne of Constantinople, was
repeatedly the summer guest of Abbot Isidoros
Krikris at the latter's luxurious private villa in
Eximnia on the island of Patmos.
The party grew bolder when, in 1992, Metropolitan
Meliton decided it was time to endow his beloved
brothers, Yorgos and Yannis Karras, with precious
Patmian real estate. That year, the Abbatial board
of Patmos passed an act favorable to Yannis Karras
thereby enabling him to purchase a large piece of
monasterial land in the Plaki area at the
ridiculous price of 1 million drachmas ---a piece
of land that was at that very time assessed by the
Leros Public Service for Real Estate sales (DOY)
at 8,4 millions drachmas!
A second purchase of monasterial real estate
---this time by Yorgos Karras, the other brother
of the Phanar Metropolitan--- was cancelled as
soon as the successor to Isidoros Krikris, Abbot
Amfilohios Kamitsis, ordered a financial
investigation into the monastery's shady
transactions.
In 1998, Isidoros Krikris, comfortable with his
bloated bank accounts, decided it was time to
withdraw from his abbatial position. The Patmos
monks elected a new abbot in the person of
Amfilohios Kamitsis who was soon confronted with
the many irregularities committed ---with the
blessings of the Patriarchate of Constantinople---
by Krikris as well as by two other monks,
Gerasimos Mihelis and Polykarpos from the Koumana
Abbey who made milllions from sales of monasterial
real estate.
Deciding to cleanse the Augean stables, Abbott
Kamitsis ordered an internal investigation into
the Monastery's finances which led to the
initiation of a public inquiry in 1999 as ordered
by the District Attorney of the Dodecanese Court
of Appeals to determine whether charges having to
do with the "plundering" of real estate belonging
to the Monastery of St. John the Theologian and
the provocative life of certain of its monks were
with merit.
The inquiry determined the soundness of the
charges made and a penal prosecution was ordered
against the monks responsible for the monastery's
administration until 1997 as well as against
various persons who had benefited through sales of
monasterial real estate. The suspect legal
transactions also included the bogus lease of
monasterial real estate to Metropolitan
Chrysostomos of Zakynthos and approved by
Patriarch Bartholomew Arhontonis himself in 1994.
Soon after, the authorities blocked all bank
accounts of the monks involved including those of
former Abbot Isidoros Krikris. To their surprise,
they found most with zero balances but, in the
course of the investigation, it was eventually
discovered that Abbot Krikris had many different
accounts with enormous sums in each.
It was during this period that Meliton arbitrarily
forced Amfilohios Kamitsis to hand in his
resignation. At the beginning of 2000, he
unexpectedly arrived at Patmos "through the
backdoor" as part of a three-member Patriarchal
Delegation to elect a new abbot of his "preference
and approval" and, as such, with disregard to the
Sacred Canons and all moral rules?
The events of that tragicomic day were described
on January 28 by the correspondent to the New
York-based National Herald, Theodoros Kalmoukos :
"The day before yesterday one more act of the
Patmos melodrama was played out when, with
Byzantine methods (Mount Athos monks of Patmian
origin were drafted and transported ---by
helicopter believe it or not--- to Patmos) a
three-member Phanar delegation composed of
Athanasios of Ilioupolis and Theira, Iakovos of
Laodicea and Meliton of Philadelphia engineered
the appointment (I am ashamed to use the term
"election") of a new abbot after Bartholomew had
forced Abbot Amfilohios Kamitsis to resign."
"Well, that suits Amfilohios just perfectly,
doesn't it? Who told him to be honest and denounce
all unacceptable transactions made by his
predecessors? Didn't he know that the disclosure
of operations, even those that transpired on the
Island of the Revelation, is a punishable act!..."
"So, to resume, the Patriarchal Delegation arrived
with great caution via Samos but the Patmians
became aware of their coming and strongly booed
them at their arrival. Indeed, when Meliton
appeared in church and began to read the official
announcement that Antypas Nikitaras (nephew of the
late Gerontas Pavlos) was elected as abbot and
that the resignation of Amfilohios and other
similar acts would not be recalled, the infuriated
Patmians began attacking him with their
umbrellas!"
"Imagine the scene: this huge Meliton, Chief
Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Great Church of
Constantinople being struck with a rain of
umbrellas!!! Let alone the loud and meaningful
cries of "This is not Turkey here!" by the
island's residents that shattered the visitors to
the bone..."
"Such outbreaks of rage from the habitually loyal,
peaceful islanders will be remembered by Meliton
throughout his whole life for, openly speaking,
the water has long overflowed the brim. Not for
any other reason, but so that all, chiefly
Bartholomew, aware of everything for years, may
understand that the Patmians are not naive Greek
Americans. When they become aware that someone is
making fools of them, especially in matters
connected to their faith, they become outraged".
Meanwhile a fact finding investigation was ordered
by the Ministry of Finances with its inspectors
instructed to look into the cash register, funds
and books of the Monastery of St. John the
Theologian.
The conclusions derived were forwarded to the
judicial authorities in May of 2000. It was
determined that 318 million drachmas were missing
from the Monastery's funds (moneys that had not
been deposited from the real estate transactions)
and that the Monastery had suffered a 1,6 billion
drachma damage by the extremely low sale prices of
its real estate. In September 2000, Monk Gerasimos
Mihelis was charged, placed under restriction and
forbidden to leave the country while, at that same
point, the former abbot, Isidoros Krikris, was
ordered to pay bail of 80 millions drachmas.
Paradoxically, in September, the public prosecutor
of Kos, Mrs Smyrli, presented a proposal to the
Magistrates’ Court requesting the entire penal
prosecution be stopped. According to her
assessment, the investigation had not generated
sufficient elements to incriminate the defendants
in spite of the fact that the act of accusation
contained no less than 160 specific monasterial
real estate transactions in which no payments were
made to the Monastery.
In October of that same year, the Magistrates’
Court of Kos passed a resolution (protocol number
137/2002) in which only 6 defendants were referred
to the three-member Criminal Court of Appeal
accused of misappropriation, infidelity, recurrent
fraud and repeated acceptance of products of crime
along with breach of duty.
However, with the passing of time, the offences of
2 of the 6 defendants were cancelled, and, in
December 2004, the entire process was judged
invalid due to purely procedural reasons. And, for
reasons of blatant sensationalism, an inspector of
the Ministry of Finances brandished the Patmos
file on the TV morning show of Giorgos Aftias but
what will really happen in the end?
Who will stick the lancet deep in the flesh of a
story in which Patriarch Bartholomew along with
his close adviser, Meliton Karras, are involved?
Who will assume the responsibility of providing
closure to this sad chapter in the everyday life
of Orthodoxy ---a sorry chapter full of intrigues,
sinful transactions and dissolute lives of holy
men?
Distributed by the Greek American News Service
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