HOLY METROPOLIS
OF NAFPAKTOS AND SAINT VLASIOS
Nafpaktos,, 7th of March 2013
ANNOUNCEMENT:
Vindication of the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos towards the slanderers and lies.
The monks of the former Monastery of the Transfiguration of Scala Nafpaktos, which recently by Presidential Decree became a metochion of the Holy Monastery of Dormition of Theotokos, Ampelakiotissa, in the context of their long-standing tactics for autonomy and disobedience to any Ecclesiastical Authority and the consequent slander of the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos, who wanted to always act according to the Holy Canons and the laws of the State, had been arguing insistently that the problems with the Metropolis of Nafpaktos began after the investment which the Monastery succeeded in receiving "legally" from the Ministry of National Economy (1997) and the supposed "illegal" financial demands of the Metropolitan on this investment. The ugly acts committed in every direction are well known, with many publications in print and electronic media, with lawsuits and indictments before the secular courts, and also by mobilizing their followers to extremist "protests", always supporting the above knowingly defamatory claim.
The Metropolis has consistently argued that the problem is primarily ecclesiological, because the former Monastery did not accept the church institutions and especially the institution of the Bishop, and as proved later the institution of the Holy Synod too, with the natural result that it conflicted with the Bishops of Nafpaktos and the Holy Synod, and secondarily a problem of management and transparency, since the former Monastery stubbornly refused to show the true financial data in the budgets - reports and to accept the proper legitimate auditing by the competent bodies of the church and the state. Besides it is proven that the Bishop never asked the Monasteries of his province and the specific former Monastery to pay to the Metropolis amounts or percentages.
Specifically with reference to the disputed investment approved by the Minister of National Economy and implemented during the years 1997-1999 (decision 64131/N.N. 711/ N. 1892/90/4-12-97 of the Minister of National Economy and amended by decision 55582/N.N. 711/ N. 1892/90/5-7-99 Min. Nat. Ec., of 763,473,951 drachmas (2,240,569 euros), with own funds participation of 543,851,951 drachmas (1,596,044 euros) and a state subsidy of 219,622,000 drachmas (644,525 euros), the reaction of the former Monastery was unreasonably fierce. The Reverend Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos, who is responsible according to the Holy Canons and the Law on the legality checks of the financial management of the monasteries, evaluating this, at first sight inexplicable, reaction, diagnosed from the beginning that this investment program suffered from a legal standpoint and, as it was natural, he did not want to approve or to cover illegal actions. Eventually, the Metropolitan was vindicated.
Recently, the Ministry of Development, after years of investigation and decisions by the competent state organs, investigations watched by the General Inspector of Public Administration, honorary Areopagite Mr. Leandros Rakintzis, decided that the investment in the former Monastery was illegal and withdrew it by imposing severe penalties.
Specifically, the decision No. 7781/NN711/n.1892/90/21-2-2013 (FEK B 459/26-2-2013) of the Minister of Development, Competitiveness, Infrastructure, Transport and Networks, revokes the decision of the Minister of National Economy on the investment in the former Holy Transfiguration Monastery, because four unlawful acts were cumulatively detected, namely:
a) Lease of part of the investment without continuation of its operation in the same production object in violation of Article 18, paragraph 1 of N.1892/90.
b) Non-compliance with the terms of the approval decision on the identity of the object and the purpose of investment.
c) Submission of false and misleading information to the Ministry, during the implementation of the investment, about the validity of the building permit and the ownership status, and concealment of facts regarding the building permit and ownership.
d) non-compliance with Regulation 55/1974 of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece on the auction procedure regarding the construction of the building.
Consequently, and in accordance with the Ministerial Decision, the amount of subsidy paid (647.114 euros), must be returned to the State. Including the interest due, the total amount equals 1,572,759 euros (535,917,629 drachmas). If one adds the illegally received VAT return by the former Holy Transfiguration Monastery, a certified amount of 1,475,600 euros that must be repaid to the State, the persons in charge of the former Holy Transfiguration Monastery are asked to return to the state, that is the taxpayer, the amount of 3 million (3,048,359) euros, more than one billion drachmas (GRD 1,038,728,329).
So, finally the core of the problem has been revealed, namely the illegal management by those in charge of the former monastery and their consequent stubborn refusal on the one hand to reveal the true facts of this management and to submit them to the consideration of the Metropolitan - responsible for verifying the legality of the administration - and on the other hand to accept any investigation even when they saw the danger that the legal entity of the Monastery would be dissolved, as it happened.
But the time has come for them to give account before God and before the people and foremost to assume their responsibilities.
It is sad that monks, who devoted themselves to God, to prayer, as required by the holy canons and the monastic traditions, participate in such "investments" in squandering public money, and belong to those who contributed to our Country’s ending up in this financial crisis, resulting in the reduction of wages and pensions of people.
It is also unfortunate that several "friends" of the Monastery, otherwise influential persons in society, instead of contributing to the compliance of the leaders of the former Monastery to the canons and to legality, tolerated such unlawful acts, if they did not cover them, which proves either their complicity or their empathy and their frivolity. It is now time to assume their responsibilities.
The Metropolis and especially the Rev. Metropolitan, although vindicated, because they refused to cover this scandal and did not engage in complicity, are very sorry for the unlawful acts of the monks and they expect those monks to apologize:
-To the Church and especially the Holy Metropolis which they wounded with their uncanonical and illegal actions and their slanders
-To the society for the turmoil they caused all these years
-To Nafpaktos, for defaming it to the ends of Greece and abroad
-To the Justice, which they troubled with countless lawsuits on the issue of this investment
-To the people of our country, especially the poor people, who are suffering,
and especially to assume their responsibilities and return to the State the illegally received astronomical amount of money mentioned above.
And if someone reasonably wonders how it is possible for Monks to find so much money to return to the state, the answer is that the own funds participation of the former monastery was, according to the decision approving its investment, 543,851,951 drachmas (1,596,044 euros), when the budgets of those years amounted to an average of 18.8 to 13.5 million drachmas (55,000 to 40,000 euros) per year(!). Therefore it is reasonable that the question arises: "Where did they find" the above amount of their own funds participation in the illegal investment? The time came to reveal also this pool of money which is unknown even today!
The spiritual law has applied again, as will apply in other cases too, because the truth finally dispels the darkness of libel and false blame. And of course there is always time for repentance ...
From the Holy Metropolis
