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Charter Disagreement Escalates Power Struggle Prominent Greek Orthodox Parishioners File Lawsuit Against Archdiocese |
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By HCS Staff The plaintiffs allege that the recent revision of the new charter, which was implemented in December 2002, is not valid because the Archdiocese had not followed proper procedures. According to statements released by OCL, the Archdiocese has operated under four successive charters (1922, 1927, 1931, and 1977) since its inception in 1921, charters which were "approved by the Patriarchate and a Clergy-Laity Congress." The plaintiffs seek the following judgments against the Archdiocese and against Archbishop Demetrios: "Declaring that the 1977 Charter and not the purported Charter is the governing Charter of the Archdiocese; granting a mandatory injunction requiring defendants to govern the Archdiocese in accordance with the 1977 Charter and not the purported Charter; and awarding plaintiffs such other and further relief as the Court deems appropriate." Court documents state the plaintiffs "bring this action for declaratory and injunctive relief to protect their rights as members of . . . the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America [a.k.a. the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America] as their rights and set forth in the Archdiocese's bylaws and in the Laws of the State of New York." The lawsuit is being funded by OCL, according to Dr. Peter Haikalis, President of the organization's Executive Committee, even though OCL is not officially a plaintiff in the action. In response to the lawsuit, the Archdiocese issued an announcement that they had received a verified complaint to the charter filed by a group of individuals in the court of the State of New York. The Archdiocese has sent the complaint to legal counsel for review, after which representatives will issue a statement. Many of the 34 plaintiffs have served the Archdiocese on various administrative bodies such as the Archdiocese Council, Executive Committee, Leadership 100, and as Archons. Their names are Anton, Plato Chimples, Constantine G. Chimples, George Alevizatos-Chriss, Evan Coin, Harry Counelis, James Makris-Daniels, Elaine Gikas, John S. Haikalis, Peter Kales, Joyce Kalew, Anthony Kappos, George Karcazes, George Karras, Thomas Kartalis, Andrew Kristakis, Dino Kyrus, Thomas Lacas, Constantine Magafan, Harry Marudas, Kyriakos P. Maniatis, Peter D. Mekedis, Alex P. Mitchell, William Pappas, Nicholas Pappas, Spiro J. Pavloglou, Vasileos Pliakas, Eustace T. Pontikes, George Skandalakis, John Spell, Harry Souvall, George Valone, Katherine Makris-Walsh, Efstathia Zapis, Xenophon Well-informed sources have shared with HCS their belief that this lawsuit is a continuation of the autocephalous movement supported by OCL and the former GOAL organization (Greek Orthodox Leaders of America) several years ago. The divisive issue will continue to factionalize parishes and dioceses, opponents assert, because a large segment, if not a silent majority, of Orthodox Christians do not wish to break away from the Patriarchate. One unnamed source speculated that the Archdiocese may finally step forward with its own lawsuit to recover the millions transferred out of the Archdiocese accounts into the Leadership 100 fund as a prelude to an autocephalous movement, linking the transferal with efforts to break away from the Patriarchate. |
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