![](\"http:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/state-now-free-to-act-on-monks-sex-scandal.jpg\")
Financial crimes taking place at Osiou Avakoum monastery are being investigated by police, where two monks were allegedly found to be having sex and receiving thousands of euros in cash, they claimed were donations, it emerged on Saturday.<\/p>\nFinancial crimes taking place at Osiou Avakoum monastery are being investigated by police, where two monks were allegedly found to be having sex and receiving thousands of euros in cash, they claimed were donations, it emerged on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Until the complaint was filed with police, state authorities had stepped back from the incident, which was the topic of an emergency Holy Synod meeting on Friday, where it was decided the two monks, embroiled in the scandal, would head to ecclesiastical court.According to police spokesman Christos Andreou, who spoke to CyBC in the morning, Bishop Isaias of Tamasos has given a long statement to police.Andreou said that officers had gone to the bishopric to take Isaias\u2019 statements.On Friday, the two monks had been summoned three times to appear at the emergency session convened to investigate the accusations against them.However, the monks did not attend.In a letter sent by the monks from the monastery in Fterikoudi village through their lawyers, the two men denied all charges brought against them.The letter said that the two had been pressured to sign letters admitting to the charges, which include having sexual relations with each other and gaining \u20ac800,000 for fake miracles.Following the Synod\u2019s announcement, the monks\u2019 lawyers highlighted that the alleged \u2018confessions\u2019 and \u2018order to defrock\u2019 were signed under duress.The lawyers, Adrianna Klaedes and Nikolaos Koulouris, also weighed in on the alleged sex scandal surrounding the two men.They said that the sex scandal has nothing to do with the two men, but with a third former cleric of the same monastery, for whom individuals had filed a sexual abuse claim.Klaedes and Koulouris added that their office represents the victims of that scandal, and that they have informed the Synod of the matter.Allegedly, the letters were signed following a 14-hour interrogation by Bishop Isaias of Tamasos.The bishop had, according to information, appeared a few weeks ago at the monastery, which belongs to the metropolis of Tamasos and Orinis, to examine the allegations.In their statement after a five-hour-long meeting, the Synod also called on the faithful to remain \u2018steadfast\u2019 despite the scandal, emphasising that the church was taking the issue seriously.They also said that members of the public, who may have any complaints about clerics should step forward so the church can examine them.Follow the
\nCyprus Mail on Google News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Police are investigating financial crimes at Osiou Avakoum monastery involving two monks who allegedly engaged in sexual activities and received thousands of euros in cash, claiming them to be donations. The incident led to an emergency Holy Synod meeting, resulting in the decision to send the two monks to ecclesiastical court. Bishop Isaias of Tamasos provided a statement to the police. The monks, who did not attend the emergency session, denied all charges through a letter, claiming they were pressured to admit to having sexual relations and fabricating miracles for \u20ac800,000. Their lawyers argued that the confessions were signed under duress and clarified that a sex scandal involved a third former cleric, not the two monks. The lawyers represent victims of the scandal involving the third cleric. The Holy Synod has urged the faithful to remain steadfast and encouraged public complaints about clerics to be brought forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3594,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[233,932,909,3,181,1117,250,591,1118,184,759,1119,836],"class_list":["post-3593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","tag-church","tag-court","tag-cybc","tag-cyprus","tag-donations","tag-financial-crimes","tag-google","tag-lawyers","tag-osiou-avakoum-monastery","tag-police","tag-scandal","tag-sex-scandal","tag-sexual-abuse"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n