{"id":7682,"date":"2024-04-10T23:00:10","date_gmt":"2024-04-10T20:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7682"},"modified":"2024-04-10T23:00:10","modified_gmt":"2024-04-10T20:00:10","slug":"monk-breaks-silence-over-monastery-scandal-i-owe-you-an-explanation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7682","title":{"rendered":"Monk breaks silence over monastery scandal: , \u2018I owe you an explanation\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Archimandrite Nektarios embroiled in a major investigation including sexual harassment, abuse and money laundering at the Osiou Avakoum monastery broke his silence on Wednesday, saying the developments have \u201c<strong>shaken his soul\u201d but not dented his faith in God<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"cypru-video-ads\" id=\"cypru-123794956\">\n<div id=\"cypru-927281658\" data-cypru-trackid=\"478051\" data-cypru-trackbid=\"1\" class=\"cypru-target\">\n<div id=\"gpt-ad-1504421085286-0\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In a lengthy Facebook post, the monk said he never had sexual relations with another monk, and was \u201cillegally kicked out from the monastery.\u201d<br \/>\nNektarios noted that he and the other monks at Osiou Avakoum \u201chave found ourselves accused of things a person\u2019s mind cannot conceive of\u201d since their life was turned upside down on March 5, which was the day a safe box containing \u20ac800,000 was seized from the monastery.<br \/>\n\u201cWe unexpectedly saw hooded men invade the monastery, violating the sanctity of its space.\u201d<br \/>\nNektarios added that from one day to the next, \u201cwe found ourselves going from monks that had the love of the people, that worked hard and had the respect of the Bishop, transformed into people who deceive the faithful, who steal from the church and sexually harass.\u201d<br \/>\nThe monk added they experienced \u201c<strong>inhumane treatment\u201d and forced to sign a false confession<\/strong>.<br \/>\n\u201cMost importantly, all the \u2018evidence\u2019 used to level unfair charges on myself and the brothers of the monastery, are illegal,\u201d and were obtained illegally without their knowledge, Nektarios stressed.<br \/>\n<strong><u>\u2018Sorry for our language\u2019<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\nThe monk did apologise for one thing, namely the \u2018every day phrases\u2019 which the monks were heard to casually use in their videos which were leaked online.<br \/>\n\u201cWe apologise and ask your forgiveness, to the extent that you deem suitable, that they should not have been heard from the lips of monks. But <strong>we are human beings who carry a heavy burden<\/strong> with which we struggle every day.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_773982\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-773982\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-773982 size-large lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/monk-breaks-silence-over-monastery-scandal-i-owe-you-an-explanation.jpg\" alt=\"monks\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-773982\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The image shared by Nektarios in his first public statement since the scandal unfolded on March 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cHuman weaknesses, which we sometimes overcome and sometimes they defeat us. And it is, we repeat, human, that our daily coexistence creates intimacy, trust and closeness between us, which sometimes manifests itself through \u2018bold\u2019 jokes, but without any further consequence or implication.\u201d<br \/>\n<strong><u>\u2018Having bank accounts does not make us thieves\u2019<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\nNektarios went on to say that \u201csome of us actually have bank accounts and real estate.\u201d This is due to the fact that they are also clergymen, he said.<br \/>\n\u201cAs clergymen we are obliged to have a bank account for the payment of our salaries, and we are entitled to own any real estate.\u201d<br \/>\nThis does not make them thieves of the money people have donated to the monastery, he specified.<br \/>\nCommenting on the contentious Holy Cross of Saint Porphyrios which was allegedly quipped with a mechanism allowing for it to \u2018leak water as a sign of a miracle\u2019, Nektarios said it was never an object of exploitation.<br \/>\nHe added that apart from being a sacred relic, it was an inheritance from the \u201cblessed Athena Sideris, spiritual child of Saint Porphyrios.<br \/>\n\u201cSo you can understand my respect for this holy relic.\u201d<br \/>\nA six-member team is investigating the slew of allegations against two monks at the monastery.<br \/>\n\u201cWe assure you that we will endure this trial, drawing strength from you. And with as much strength as God gives us, we will continue to ask to be tested and judged fairly, hoping for the restoration of our honor as monks and our dignity as human beings.\u201d<br \/>\nThe monks\u00a0were allegedly found with \u20ac800,000 in cash, and property in Greece and Limassol. They were also allegedly caught on CCTV footage\u00a0having sex with each other. A video also showed a monk beating a woman that cleaned at the monastery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fact: Archimandrite Nektarios broke his silence on the investigation at the Osiou Avakoum monastery, denying allegations of sexual relations with another monk and stating that they were illegally kicked out from the monastery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7683,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1521,4093,1418,1902,209,1512,2300,2276,3894,233,3,3185,4985,3190,1610,2167,249,250,3330,747,1697,5770,4717,5373,1419,24,2788,2153,1145,2628,1060,1946,1150,3331,1118,284,287,3522,3583,1519,3771,759,1513,662,1702,335,1827,4861,1906,1681,380,2389,962,1944],"class_list":["post-7682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","tag-1521","tag-abuse","tag-allegations","tag-bank","tag-box","tag-cash","tag-cctv","tag-cctv-footage","tag-charges","tag-church","tag-cyprus","tag-defeat","tag-developments","tag-dignity","tag-evidence","tag-exploitation","tag-facebook","tag-google","tag-google-news","tag-greece","tag-hooded-men","tag-inheritance","tag-intimacy","tag-investigating","tag-investigation","tag-limassol","tag-mind","tag-monastery","tag-monastery-scandal","tag-money","tag-money-laundering","tag-monk","tag-monks","tag-news","tag-osiou-avakoum-monastery","tag-property","tag-real-estate","tag-relations","tag-restoration","tag-safe-box","tag-salaries","tag-scandal","tag-sex","tag-sexual-harassment","tag-silence","tag-space","tag-statement","tag-treatment","tag-trial","tag-trust","tag-us","tag-video","tag-water","tag-woman"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Monk breaks silence over monastery scandal: , \u2018I owe you an explanation\u2019<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Monastery. sexual harassment, abuse, money laundering\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Monk breaks silence over monastery scandal: , \u2018I owe you an explanation\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Monastery. sexual harassment, abuse, money laundering\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7682\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ch.jfdi.cc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-04-10T20:00:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/monk-breaks-silence-over-monastery-scandal-i-owe-you-an-explanation-12.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"31\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"23\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cyprus Mail\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cyprus Mail\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7682#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7682\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cyprus Mail\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8\"},\"headline\":\"Monk breaks silence over monastery scandal: , \u2018I owe you an explanation\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-10T20:00:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7682\"},\"wordCount\":606,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7682#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/monk-breaks-silence-over-monastery-scandal-i-owe-you-an-explanation-12.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"000\",\"abuse\",\"allegations\",\"bank\",\"box\",\"cash\",\"cctv\",\"CCTV footage\",\"charges\",\"church\",\"Cyprus\",\"defeat\",\"developments\",\"dignity\",\"evidence\",\"exploitation\",\"Facebook\",\"Google\",\"Google News\",\"Greece\",\"hooded men\",\"inheritance\",\"intimacy\",\"investigating\",\"investigation\",\"Limassol\",\"mind\",\"monastery\",\"Monastery scandal\",\"money\",\"money laundering\",\"monk\",\"monks\",\"news\",\"Osiou Avakoum monastery\",\"Property\",\"real estate\",\"relations\",\"restoration\",\"safe box\",\"salaries\",\"scandal\",\"sex\",\"sexual harassment\",\"silence\",\"space\",\"statement\",\"treatment\",\"trial\",\"trust\",\"US\",\"video\",\"water\",\"woman\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Cyprus\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7682\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7682\",\"name\":\"Monk breaks silence over monastery scandal: , \u2018I owe you an explanation\u2019\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7682#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7682#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/monk-breaks-silence-over-monastery-scandal-i-owe-you-an-explanation-12.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-10T20:00:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8\"},\"description\":\"Monastery. sexual harassment, abuse, money laundering\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7682#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7682\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7682#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/monk-breaks-silence-over-monastery-scandal-i-owe-you-an-explanation-12.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/monk-breaks-silence-over-monastery-scandal-i-owe-you-an-explanation-12.jpg\",\"width\":31,\"height\":23,\"caption\":\"Monk breaks silence over monastery scandal: , \u2018I owe you an explanation\u2019\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=7682#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Monk breaks silence over monastery scandal: , \u2018I owe you an explanation\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/\",\"name\":\"ch.jfdi.cc\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8\",\"name\":\"Cyprus Mail\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cyprus-mail.com\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?author=3\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Monk breaks silence over monastery scandal: , \u2018I owe you an explanation\u2019","description":"Monastery. sexual harassment, abuse, money laundering","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Monk breaks silence over monastery scandal: , \u2018I owe you an explanation\u2019","og_description":"Monastery. sexual harassment, abuse, money laundering","og_url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7682","og_site_name":"ch.jfdi.cc","article_published_time":"2024-04-10T20:00:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":31,"height":23,"url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/monk-breaks-silence-over-monastery-scandal-i-owe-you-an-explanation-12.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cyprus Mail","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cyprus Mail","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7682#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7682"},"author":{"name":"Cyprus Mail","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8"},"headline":"Monk breaks silence over monastery scandal: , \u2018I owe you an explanation\u2019","datePublished":"2024-04-10T20:00:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7682"},"wordCount":606,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7682#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/monk-breaks-silence-over-monastery-scandal-i-owe-you-an-explanation-12.jpg","keywords":["000","abuse","allegations","bank","box","cash","cctv","CCTV footage","charges","church","Cyprus","defeat","developments","dignity","evidence","exploitation","Facebook","Google","Google News","Greece","hooded men","inheritance","intimacy","investigating","investigation","Limassol","mind","monastery","Monastery scandal","money","money laundering","monk","monks","news","Osiou Avakoum monastery","Property","real estate","relations","restoration","safe box","salaries","scandal","sex","sexual harassment","silence","space","statement","treatment","trial","trust","US","video","water","woman"],"articleSection":["Cyprus"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7682","url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7682","name":"Monk breaks silence over monastery scandal: , \u2018I owe you an explanation\u2019","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7682#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7682#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/monk-breaks-silence-over-monastery-scandal-i-owe-you-an-explanation-12.jpg","datePublished":"2024-04-10T20:00:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8"},"description":"Monastery. sexual harassment, abuse, money laundering","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7682#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7682"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7682#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/monk-breaks-silence-over-monastery-scandal-i-owe-you-an-explanation-12.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/monk-breaks-silence-over-monastery-scandal-i-owe-you-an-explanation-12.jpg","width":31,"height":23,"caption":"Monk breaks silence over monastery scandal: , \u2018I owe you an explanation\u2019"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=7682#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Monk breaks silence over monastery scandal: , \u2018I owe you an explanation\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/","name":"ch.jfdi.cc","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8","name":"Cyprus Mail","sameAs":["https:\/\/cyprus-mail.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?author=3"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}