A public row has broken out between Archbishop Chrysostomos II and the local church committee in Trachonas over funds he allegedly pulled out of their account without their consent.
The head of the Trachonas local church committee, Lefteris Kokkinos, told reporters that the head of the Cyprus church had withdrawn funds to the tune of €450,000 in January from their account despite, what he claims, was a previous agreement to only lend him €100,000 with the promise that the parish would get the money back in March.
The row escalated on Wednesday with the Trachoni church representatives threatening to “talk” and adding that they “know a lot” should the Archbishop go ahead with threats to “disband the committee from its duties”.
The Archbishop, according to Kokkinos, did not return the borrowed €100,000 but in February he began transferring securities issued to Hellenic Bank, which he told them had some value and that they could sell in the future. The local parish later found out that further funds had been withdrawn from their bank account.
“On April 6, we received word that his Beatitude withdrew €350,000 from the account of the church in Trachonas without the permission or consent of the local church committee. This action is a blatant abuse of authority because the Church’s constitution does not provide for money withdrawals from local parishes for its own use” said Kokkinos.
The Archbishop said many local parishes agreed to hand over cash to the Archbishopric in order to overcome cash liquidity problems. The Trahonas parish was the only one refusing to help, said the top cleric, adding that he should have removed them from their positions at that time.
“If the local church committee enters the church in broad daylight and takes something, they will be thieves. If I go there at midnight, break the door and take anything, I won’t be a thief. I am an executive administrator. This is what I want everyone to understand. I am here to exert authority. If people don’t like it, they can go away” the archbishop said.
Asked on state television about the total amount the Archbishop took from the Trachonas parish, he said “I will take everything, every single penny.”
The parish has announced that they will be seeking legal counsel in the matter which has escalated in the last couple of days.