An Ecclesiological Problem:
The former Holy Transfiguration Monastery of Saviour in Nafpaktos
A public confession
Metropolitan of Nafpaktos and Agios Vlasios Ierotheos
The "agonizing appeal of faithful members of the Church on the matter of Nafpaktos Transfiguration Monastery" which was posted on the website amen.gr, most impressed me and I read it with great interest. This appeal refers to "directly or indirectly, institutional or non-institutional, parties (Holy and Sacred Synod, Metropolitan of Nafpaktos, Brotherhood of the Monastery, Association of Friends of the Monastery)," which are asked "to seek solutions that will come from personal meetings that will address the problems in detail and in person."
I leave aside the question of what the "institutional and non-institutional parties involved" are, when we have in mind the Orthodox ecclesiology, and I also leave aside the equation between the Holy Synod and the Friends of the Monastery or between the Holy Synod and the Holy Monastery. A Monastery that systemically refuses to implement the more than sixty decisions of the Holy Synod, which came after discussions “in person”, pleadings, hearings, etc.
I focus, however, particularly on the section: “Has any language other than the legal one been used? Have the disagreeing parties ever utilised the gift of a meeting in person, which has the power to remove suspicions and discover solutions? Perhaps indeed this has happened. To the extent, however, that it happened in an insufficient manner, one easily understands that the only thing achieved by this exchange of official correspondence, appeals, lawsuits, complaints, notifications, etc. is to harden defenses."
I want to assure that such "meetings", "in person" indeed have taken place, many hours have been spent, not only by me but also by three three-members Synodical Committees, which were set up by bishops and abbots of monasteries, which I requested from the Holy Synod. Bishops have intervened on their own initiative, and efforts have been made by the last two archbishops (Christodoulos and Ieronimos). But every meeting caused other misunderstandings. There is a document written by the Holy Metropolis on the history of the many attempts to provide solutions that will be published on the website of the Metropolis in a few days, where many other official documents are already published.
What I want to do in this text as Bishop of this Holy Diocese is a "public confession", following the words of Christ, " tell it to the church" because all other possibilities have been exhausted.
1. I knew the problem of the Monastery of the Transfiguration before I was elected and enthroned as Bishop of the Holy Diocese, while serving as Preacher in the Dioceses of Edessa and Thebes, and in the Archdiocese of Athens because it was a trouble for my predecessors bishops. I had heard incredible stories.
I spent the last night before the enthronement in tears, praying and asking God's help for what I was going to encounter in Nafpaktos, having a hope that with love I could help.
2. The first three years I tried with love, and understanding to pacify the separated, with whom I met immediately on the enthronement, despite the difficulties. I found an unsettled situation and went so far as to visit the public prosecutor with a request not to bring charges against a member of the Holy Monastery on a financial issue that had arisen during the period before the enthronement.
Then, I participated in conferences at the Monastery, and ordained some brothers and “laid of the hand” on other brothers, variously expressed my love, despite the undermining which I detected from the first moment. I did not set boundaries in the relations between Metropolis and Monastery, as I was advised by respected persons who knew the situation, among them the late Archimandrite Arsenios Kompougias, Spiritual Father of the former abbot Fr Spyridon Logothetis.
Now that I recall all of these, I think that this excessive love I showed to them was probably my fault, and perhaps they regarded it as a weakness.
3. With the election of Archbishop Christodoulos (1998) there started attacks from the brothers of the monastery against me, obviously and imperceptibly, aiming, ultimately, at transferring me to another Metropolis. There is ample evidence on this.
Finally, proposals were made to me to move to certain Holy Dioceses, but I rejected them, firstly because I do not think that the Bishop is a civil servant, and secondly because I did not want to succumb to blackmails.
4. Shortly after this, there started complaints against me from the Monastery to the Holy Synod, which I was obliged to forward to the Holy Synod with comments. After that, the problem became a problem of the Holy Synod. From 1999 onwards nearly sixty (60) decisions of the Holy Synod against the monastery have been issued, a proposal was introduced by the Metropolitan of Ilia, Germanos, and a decision was taken by the Holy Synod, and yet the Monastery refused to obey to them, showing in practice an autonomy from the Church and a denial of the institution of the Church. Even the Synodical Court decision in 2006 remains essentially unenforced. So the monastery from 2006 until today remains without a canonical and a legal formation and the person sentenced by Synodical Court still pretends to be the Abbot, despite the dismissal of his appeal by the Council of State.
It is known that the Church is not just a place of “agapologia” (love-talk) and compromises, but an "ecclesiastical hierarchy" that works with the Synodical constitution and leads its members to "Upper light bearing", according to the 102nd (ńâ) Canon of Quinisext (Penthekti) Ecumenical Council, by healing the sick members. The Fathers of the Church undertook spiritual surgical interventions when needed. It is impossible in the name of an “agapologia” to abolish the canonical law of the Church. Besides, the Church confronts all issues with conciliar decisions rather than just public relations.
5. Over the years I found that the monastery is surrounded by five satellite associations and companies, under the same name with the monastery, with subsidies unknown to the Holy Metropolis. Because there was a possibility to get involved in economic affairs, and even in criminal offenses, it was natural to take my measures. Already there are criminal responsibilities and sentencings and the monastery must return to the state high amounts of taxes and subsidies.
6. Incredible slanders against me proceed from the Monastery on a daily basis for allegedly demanding money, while I had sent a lot of documents stressing that I do not wish them to deposit to the Metropolis money or percentages of revenues, and while - I am forced to write – I have no estate property at all, no banking account, and I have never received anything during my ministry in the Church, not even my rights as author, and out of conviction and belief I remain completely without possessions living a frugal life.
Also, I receive incredible slanders worldwide, supposedly that I submitted dozens of lawsuits against the monastery. This is a distortion and inversion of reality, since the monastery is the one submitting by the dozens (150) the lawsuits, lawsuits against me and the Synod. My colleagues prepared a list of such lawsuits and indictments that will soon be published on the website of the Metropolis to dispel this incredible slander.
All these slanders are amazing, they have left me astonished and many times led me to the holy altar to let my pain with tears to God, who knows my inner world better than anyone.
Many times I was surprised by the intrigues, the subversions, the demonic way of acting by monks and priest-monks. What to remember first of all this? The recent events are indicative: their application to the American Ambassador against the Church of Greece and the country in general. Their alliance with the Golden Dawn, part of which was to bring the matter to the Parliament, where, of course, their slanders were invalidated. The flyers that were distributed in the town of Nafpaktos from "known unknowns" with the title "Hierotheos: god of demons." The nonexistent "incidents" during the ceremony of Epiphany, circulated worldwide. The football fans-like events and the introduction of football manners in the sensitive ecclesiastical area. All these do not constitute religious morality and religious belief, and simultaneously they manifest what was the "work" of the Monastery all these years.
I have encountered a lot of difficulties and temptations during other times in my life, I went to Lebanon during the civil war and I was in danger in many ways, but these calumnies and slanders that I received during the period of my episcopal ministry which had been emanating from this "orthodox" monastery surpassed all previous records, were incredible and were causing me a lot of pain.
Only the Divine Liturgy and prayer helped me to remain as calm as possible and continue my work in the Church, to speak, to write, to take part in conferences, to exercise my pastoral ministry and to participate in the Synodical bodies of the Church Organs .
Of course, in the Diocese I have met distinguished clergymen, monks and laymen, who variously show their love and support.
7. I hope that those who signed the "agonizing appeal" did so benevolently. I wish they had personally heard me previously, and thus do what they propose the Holy Synod and the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos to do with the Monastery, namely "the gift of the meeting of persons face to face", before composing their initiative. That is, I wish they had visited or asked me to meet them and inform them, as long as they are members of the Church.
They should not have been content with information from various publications in electronic form that oftentimes are misleading, as evidenced by inaccurate and untrue information mentioned in their text, for they should realize that a Bishop can not respond to every malicious publication and engage with every slanderer and abusive user. Besides, I was not the person who raised this issue on television and online media, as they write. Also, I would not like to be talking about creating "a new Esfigmenou monastery” because by doing so they expose the Holy Community of Mount Athos and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, supposedly to blame them for this.
I believe that despite their goodwill and their love for the Church they should not have doubts for my own love for the Church, and perhaps they have not suffered and have not wept for this issue more than me.
Anyway, I can not rule out anything. So, I beg the people who signed the "agonizing appeal" to designate some committee with which to meet in Nafpaktos or in Athens and I am ready to inform them and benefit from their knowledge. So that I hear their agony and they hear my pain.
I opted to write this text as a "public confession" because their proposal was made public, but also because it tunes, I want to believe, with the pure intention they have toward ecclesiastical issues and towards me.