By Krikor Tsakizian
The enthronement of Archbishop Makarios of Australia two years ago was enthusiastically received by all the faithful of the Greek community of Australia who, in the person of the shepherd, saw the undisputed leader who will unite and lovingly serve the people of the fifth continent.
However, there were some isolated cases that reacted and can still not be reconciled with the new data of change. You see from the first moment that the new Archbishop took over, he wanted to cleanse the Archdiocese and cut the deep roots that had spread various parasitic elements, which sucked either power or money.
Indicative of the situation is the legacy of the blessed Stylianos. It is customary for the church leader to set the example of humility, poverty, and morality. A hierarch cannot take the place of a poor Archbishop and, when he dies, leave a legacy of about $ 2.5 million. Then something went wrong. And when something goes wrong in the head, one realizes what is happening to the base.
Archbishop Makarios cut off access to the Archdiocese of a specific monk of Mount Athos for whom there are serious written complaints. The unanimous request of the clergy, as expressed in a hierarchical assembly “that this monk should not return to Australia”, was heard by Makarios.
He changed from the management of the Trust the one who had been convicted by the Australian court for embezzlement and in whom the Australian state withdrew his license to practice his profession. This person according to the law could not participate in the management of money of a public non-profit organization such as the Archdiocese for obvious reasons. And although the people of Stylianos considered him baron of finances, Makarios dared to expel him. His subsequent behavior fully justifies the Archbishop.
The Archbishop appointed an official clergyman from his parish. Stylianos’s people again rushed to criticize Makarios for moving with passion and for practicing terrorism. But the truth is that this clergyman, in addition to his ecclesiastical illegalities, had established double blocks of evidence without, of course, the approval of the Council. When the council discovered the theft, it demanded the removal of the clergyman from the parish. And the Archbishop did as any conscious Hierarch would do.
Makarios changed this person, who was essentially the almighty “Archbishop” of Melbourne and who ruled the Kingdom and administered ecclesiastical affairs without council and collaborators throughout the State of Victoria. A cursory investigation in Melbourne will inform every bona fide how difficult this change was and how much the Greek community was relieved after this intervention of the new Archbishop. In fact, the problems of St Basil’s nursing home and Axion Esti, which Makarios inherited, are settled after the appointment of the new Board of Directors and the help of the State.
At the St. John’s School in Melbourne, the Archbishop found a debt of about $ 4.5 million and was destined to be sold to a contractor. The Board changed, the management changed and now the school has found its way and its pace. Suffice it to say that this school was on the 256th list when it was received by Archbishop Makarios and is now 54th, while it has 260 children.
The Kingdom of Sydney bequeathed, among other problems, a deficit of about $ 14 million. The Archbishop renewed the Board of Directors, changed the Director, made cuts in the internal regulations, and mainly has reduced the deficit he found from 14 to 6 million dollars.
In addition to the indicative changes described above, there was also the problem of the relatives of the blessed Stylianos, Makarios’ predecessor. Some of them, of course, are excellent and stand out, separating their position from selfish and passionate movements and actions. But one of them is currently being prosecuted by the Australian judiciary for stealing the Archdiocese of Australia. This is the same relative of the blessed Archbishop, whose name appeared as a co-beneficiary in the personal account of Stylianos in Greece. This person, even on the day that Stylianos died, asked for $ 25,000 to be disbursed from the Australian account of the Hierarch, which he received, apparently to console his mourning! Meanwhile, while in Australia, hundreds of thousands of dollars were transferred to the Athens joint account for their own benefit.
He, in collaboration with another “lady”, whose various wishes regarding the Archdiocese were not healed, as well as with the others mentioned above, who lost their privileges, are leading the defilement of the new Archbishop and have systematically started an underground and dishonest war with various false and defamatory posts. In the team is also Hierarch who is optimistic and still hopes that Makarios will be dethroned to return to Australia as a triumphant.
This war includes other cases of rodents, such as journalists from Greece, who tried with flattery and psychological blackmail to extract large sums of money from the Archdiocese, because apparently they were used to doing the same blackmail in all previous years and when received a negative response, began the libel against a man, who has already been trusted by the faithful, after seeing that things in their church have changed for the better. Which encouraged them to return to the Church, even communities that had seceded for decades.
The new Archbishop, however, seems determined to put a final end to this unorthodox and sick situation that prevailed within the Archdiocese. He removed every diseased element and did not remain indifferent to the mud war he was accepting. He responded with appeals to the court, in order to prove what they claim against him or otherwise to pay the price of defamation, as provided by law.
Because the Church must get rid of such morbid phenomena in order to go its own way and carry out the multifaceted work it has undertaken. The church must eradicate once and for all the parasites that are deliberately trying to make its task difficult. And fortunately, this is happening in Australia. The catharsis has begun and continues. Those who are not happy, let them cry but their voices cannot suspend the vision of the new Archbishop for the glory of the Church and the Greek Diaspora in Australia.
*The article was originally published in pontosnews.gr