At the end of August, the procedure concerning the case of the Holy Monastery of St. Avvakum begins before the six-member Synodal Court, which is expected to be completed within the first fortnight of September, a church source told KYPE.
According to the information, on August 30, the Metropolitan of Tamasos and Orenis Isaias was summoned before the six-member Synodal Court, while around 15 persons out of the sixty, who were included in the list of witnesses and who testified before the Investigative Committee, were also summoned.
In addition to the defendants, Hieromonk Barnabas has also been summoned before the Synodal Court, for whom Archimandrites Nektarios and Porphyrios, who are on holiday, raised the issue of unreliability.
It is noted that the indictment has been served by the ecclesiastical prosecutor on the defendants, with their lawyers having already started preparing their statement before the Synodal Court.
The same information states that in addition to Archimandrites Nektarios and Porphyrios, who are on holiday, the monk Abvakum is also accused, who faces the same charges.
However, the penalty he faces is not the same, namely that of removal, but that of disestablishment.
As the same source explained to KYPE, the greatest penalty that the monk Abvakum is facing is that of dissociation from the angelic scheme, clarifying that monks are not deposed.
He expressed, however, in the assessment that the penalties that will be finally awarded to them will be only administrative.
"Certain" the overthrow of Nectarius and Porphyry
The same source stated that the removal of the two Archimandrites Nektarios and Prphyrios on holiday should be considered "certain", since as explained the indictment includes dozens of accusations, some of them very serious.
The three defendants are facing ecclesiastical offenses as well as moral misconduct.
"The indictment is particularly heavy," says the same source, "since the videos, photos and recordings they have before them make the removal of the monks a one-way street."
Besides, the concealment of church property and the embezzlement of church money are among the charges.
What does repeal mean?
The same source told KYPE that demotion means that the two Archimandrites on holiday "fall from their priestly office and, by extension, cannot perform mysteries, rites, services and cease to be ordained".
Answering a related question, he said that there is a possibility that they will be allowed to keep the solitary form, after explaining that deposing does not necessarily mean de-formation, unless that is also decided.
"Most likely they will let them be monks and leave in a monastery, which will be accepted by the Bishop," he added.
A total of 12 cases before the Police
For its part, the Police has investigated or is investigating twelve cases, related to the scandal of the Holy Monastery of St. Avvakum, in Fterikoudi.
In his statements to the KYPE, the Police spokesperson, Christos Andreou, said that of the 12 cases, the one related to the concealment of church property, specifically the amount of money found in the safe, which amounts to 807.000 euros and is a product donation, has already been registered in court, with the start of the procedure before the Criminal Court being placed in September.
Besides, Mr. Christou said that since the beginning of July, nine cases concerning the Abvakum Monastery have been before the Legal Service for study and instructions.
He also added that the Police are still investigating two cases concerning complaints by monks against the Metropolitan, attacks on persons who have seen the light of day and sexual offenses.
Source: KYPE