A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY
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| Volume 7 Number 17 - Tuesday, April 26th, 2005 |
A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY |
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The Orthodox Christian Laity
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The Orthodox Christian News Service |
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ATHENS, Greece (AP)--Greek police announced the arrest in Italy on Friday of Apostolos Vavilis, a central figure in a wave of scandals that engulfed Greece's powerful Orthodox Church earlier this year. Vavilis was detained in Bologna, northern Italy, by Interpol agents acting on an international arrest warrant for alleged drug trafficking, Greek police said. The warrant was issued by an Athens prosecutor, and Vavilis is expected to be extradited to Greece within a few days. Vavilis was allegedly sent on a secret mission to the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem by Archbishop Christodoulos, head of the Orthodox Church in Greece, to lobby on behalf of the Greek-backed choice for the job. Their choice, Patriarch Eireneos I, was elected in 2001. Christodoulos said he never organized such a mission but acknowledged writing letters on Vavilis' behalf during the 1990s. Vavilis also worked as an informant for Greek authorities. Up to now, he had eluded a manhunt launched after the scandals broke earlier this month with near daily embarrassments for the church. He also faces charges in Greece of using a false identity card and money-laundering.
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