THE FIRST court case involving the squandering of Church property will be heard this October, with nine others close behind, said a member of the investigative committee that probed the alleged mismanagement and looting.
Lawyer Leonidas Georgiou, who made up a third of the investigative committee headed by former Supreme Court President, Demetrakis Stylianides, told state radio yesterday that the final report highlighted many instances of bad management, incorrect procedures and plundering of Church property over the decades. He added that the committee had included proposals in the report that would ensure the same mistakes were not repeated in the future.
Georgiou said 10 criminal cases were already underway regarding the squandering of Church property, each one containing several aspects. The first would be heard this October while police were in the final stages of investigation for the other nine.
The three-member committee submitted the 400-page report to the Holy Synod on Wednesday after completing a nine-month investigation into allegations of embezzlement and mismanagement of Church finances. The top circle of clerics will study the report and reconvene on July 12 where the committee will be available to answer any queries.
Irregularities in the finances of the Archbishopric and reports of misappropriation of property were widely reported in the media, particularly by Politis newspaper, over the last two years.
The Holy Synod met for a second time yesterday to discuss the controversial report.
According to reports, the 400-page document exposes prominent and political figures as well as relatives and employees of the ailing Archbishop for their part in dodgy transactions where Church land was sold at a deflated value, sometimes illegally or in violation of the Church Charter.
Bishop of Paphos Chrysostomos insisted yesterday the report would not be published in full, but that reporters would have access to parts of it, fuelling rumours that important names were mentioned in the report for the wrong reasons.
The Paphos Bishop said the report’s findings on all that had happened at the Archbishopric over the last decades provoked sadness in him.
He said the proposals submitted by the committee would ensure that a similar phenomenon would not be repeated in the future. Questioned on the report, the Paphos Bishop explained that on many occasions, the Holy Synod, acting incorrectly, would approve a transaction without knowing the location of the land/property being sold, its market value or the identity of the buyer. He told state radio that proceedings against relatives of the ailing Archbishop Chrysostomos had already started, while others would soon follow. Some would likely end up occupying a prison cell, he added.
Elections for a new primate were also discussed in yesterday’s meeting. The Holy Synod will meet again today before reconvening on July 12 with the investigative committee. According to one CyBC reporter, during yesterday’s the members of the Holy Synod also expressed their hope for a Greece football victory in the semi-finals of Euro 2004, adding they would be watching the match like all Greeks.
