The Holy Metropolis of Sweden issues a clarification regarding recent misinformation circulating on the Facebook page of the Parish of Panagia in Borås.
Despite claims that all Divine Liturgies were postponed, the Metropolis confirms that the Divine Liturgy will indeed take place on Sunday, February 11, 2024, as scheduled.
However, it emphasizes that Fr. Ioannis Nicolaidis has been suspended from performing Holy services and Sacraments since February 5, 2024. The suspension stems from administrative restructuring decisions made by the Metropolis Executive Board, aiming to ensure legal compliance and financial transparency within parish operations.
Contrary to claims, each parish maintains autonomy over its finances, with funds allocated by parishioner donations intended to support pastoral ministry and parish facilities.
The Metropolis urges Fr. Ioannis to comply with instructions to lift the suspension and continue his priestly duties for the benefit of the faithful in Borås.
Please, read the full announcement of the Metropolis of Sweden:
Because it has come to the knowledge of the Holy Metropolis of Sweden, that on the Facebook page of the Parish of Panagia (The Entrance of the Virgin Mary into the Temple) in Borås (which was canonically founded by our Holy Metropolis on October 18, 2015) it is written that “all Divine Liturgies are postponed from Sunday, February 11, until further notice”, we would like to responsibly inform our flock in the city of Borås and the wider area, that the Divine Liturgy will be celebrated, on Sunday, February 11, 2024, at 10 a.m., by the V. Rev. Archimandrite Bartholomew Iatridis, as has been communicated by telephone to Fr. Ioannis Nicolaidis for several days now. Therefore, the news about the postponement of the Divine Liturgies is categorically denied.
In the continuation of the same announcement, it is written that “the church will be open and the Great Compline Service and the Salutations to the Virgin Mary will be read”. On this, we once again, responsibly inform our flock that, because Fr. Ioannis Nicolaidis has been suspended from performing all Holy services and Sacraments, from Monday, February 5, 2024, until further notice, he can neither perform any of the above mentioned Holy Services, nor the Holy Sacraments, for sure.
In the same announcement, it is also stated that “The reason this is being done is because Father Ioannis was suspended because they want him to sign the new account and to transfer, if any, all movable and immovable property to the account and to the control of the Metropolis. Father John says that it has nothing to do with obedience because it is not a spiritual matter and the income of the parish is at the disposal of each parishioner”.
In the face of this orchestrated misinformation, our Holy Metropolis once again responsibly informs its flock, that after the decision of the Metropolis Executive Board on the administrative restructuring of the parishes of the Holy Metropolis in Sweden, and the approval of the competent services of the Swedish State, each parish was recognized as a legal entity under the Holy Metropolis, while a bank account was opened in the name of each parish, which will be managed by the church council of each parish. For the specific Parish of Borås, the Holy Metropolis has already deposited, until today, the sum of 110,000 Swedish kronor (SEK) into the parish account.The post on the parish Facebook page concludes by stating that: “All revenues from religious services such as weddings, baptisms, funerals go to the Metropolis. Although the Metropolis has promised that a symbolic amount of the money from these services will go to the parish, the priest and the cantor, we have not seen this. Father Ioannis performs his pastoral work WITHOUT PAYMENT. If everything goes under the control of the Metropolis then as all the other parishes have been deactivated and as five parishes have the same priest, then also in Borås, God willing, we will probably have a priest once every three months”.
In order to restore the severely abused truth on the specific issues, it is once again known that by a decision of the Metropolis Executive Board, a certain amount of donation was determined, many years ago, to be offered by the families who are going to perform a Holy Sacrament, which is deposited in the bank account of Holy Metropolis, to cover its fixed and extraordinary expenses, for the smooth operation of its pastoral ministry in Scandinavia, the financial support of its parishes and the restoration of its parish facilities, throughout our Ecclesiastical Province.Therefore, it is up to Fr. Ioannis, to follow the instructions of the Holy Metropolis, to have the suspension from conducting Holy Services removed and to continue performing his priestly duties in the Parish of Borås, for the sanctification of the faithful.
