- Greece's Orthodox church, buffeted by sex and corruption
scandals, met in emergency session yesterday amid lurid claims that have
included one newspaper publishing photographs of a 91-year-old bishop naked
in bed with a nubile young woman.
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- Scrambling to resolve the worst crisis in the church's
modern history, the embattled spiritual leader, Archbishop Christodoulos,
convened the rare meeting as allegations of skulduggery, sexual improprieties,
trial rigging, drug and antiquities smuggling engulfed the institution.
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- "I humbly ask for forgiveness from the people and
the clerics who, for the most, honour... the cassock they wear," he
said addressing the 102-member Holy Synod, the church's ruling council.
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- "There is a lot that must be done to put our house
in order," he conceded before proposing a series of reforms.
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- Greeks have watched dumbfounded as allegations of their
priesthood's dissolute lifestyle have unfolded on their television screens.
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- Snatched tape-recordings, aired nightly, have revealed
rampant homosexuality among senior clerics who, unlike ordinary priests,
are under oaths of chastity.
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- The alleged debauchery has not been limited to monastic
cells. Last week, claims emerged that Metropolitan Theoklitos of Thessaly,
a leading churchman, had been arrested on suspicion of drug dealing in
a police raid on a notorious nightclub in Athens.
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- The priest was reportedly rounded up with Seraphim Koulousousas,
the archbishop's former private secretary, also implicated in another "unholy
affair" involving gay sex with a bishop.
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- In a setback for Archbishop Christodoulos, Mr Koulousousas
announced this week that he was leaving the church to embark on a career
as a fashion designer in Paris.
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- The Greek Orthodox church sees homosexuality as an "abomination,"
with the archbishop recently describing it as a "blatant, crying sin".
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- The revelations follow the suspension of two high-ranking
clerics for "ethical misconduct" earlier this month.
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- Metropolitan Panteleimon of Attica, who headed Greece's
richest diocese, was withdrawn from duties after allegations of "lewd
exchanges with young men" and charges that he had embezzled around
Ä4.4m (£3m) for "his old age."
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- The bishop is one of several eminent priests whose names
have been linked in a widening trial-fixing and corruption scandal involving
at least 20 judges currently under investigation.
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- In the wake of suggestions by fellow members of the synod
that he resign, Panteleimon's reaction was less than charitable. "If
I speak, there will be an earthquake. I'll take many with me to my grave."
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- Earlier this month, Archimandrite Iakovos Giosakis was
also suspended after being charged with antiquities smuggling following
the disappearance of valuable icons from his former diocese.
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- Under public pressure from a media determined to expose
the shenanigans, the church is investigating four more clerics, including
a 91-year-old metropolitan bishop who was captured on camera cavorting
in the nude with a young woman. The picture was splashed across the front
page of the mass-selling Avriani.
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- "It is true that some of us have sinned, mistakes
have been made," the synod's spokesman admitted. "There is clearly
a need for catharsis."
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- But with the revelations showing no sign of abating,
Greeks were doubtful yesterday whether the clean-up would go far enough.
Although Archbishop Christodoulos appeared unusually contrite, he stopped
short of chastising his own role in the growing furore.
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- In yet another embarrassing twist, the fiery leader has
been accused of procuring the services of a convicted drug smuggler, Apostolos
Vavylis, to help elect a favoured cleric to the post of patriarch of Jerusalem
in 2001. Investigations have shown that the archbishop wrote a recommendation
letter for Vavylis months before he was arrested smuggling heroin.
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- "A tsunami is coming and it will reach the archbishop
himself," predicted Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Zakynthos, a noted
liberal.
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- Unsurprisingly, the allegations have severely dented
the reputation of the church in a country where 97% are baptised Orthodox.
Unlike its Roman Catholic counterpart, the Greek Orthodox faith stresses
the infallibility of its 11,000-strong priesthood as a whole. Greeks, in
contrast to other Europeans, intrinsically link their national identity
to their religion, viewing the church as the vehicle that kept Hellenism
alive during 400 years of dark Ottoman rule.
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- But, this week, for the first time ever the vast majority
told pollsters they would support the full separation of church-state relations.
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- "What all of this has confirmed is that corruption
is not limited to the public sector," said Thanos Dokas, a political
scientist.
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- "Despite widespread evidence that these sort of
things were happening, its leadership was always reluctant to deal with
them.
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- "For the last 150 years, the church has had a leading
role in a country... now it is fighting a rearguard battle to maintain
its grip on Greek society."
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2005
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- http://www.guardian.co.uk/
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