Archimandrite John Christodoulos, Archimandrite of the Archdiocese of Australia, has been placed on temporary leave following reports in the Australian media accusing him of leading a “double life”.
The article in the South Australian newspaper The Advertiser, which was reproduced by other Australian media, caused an uproar on Saturday in the Greek community.
According to the article, the Archdiocese is conducting an investigation to determine whether what was reported about the Archimandrite in question is true.
The main allegations are two:
– The Archimandrite is accused of receiving “hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from pious elderly parishioners while living a double life in defiance of the teachings and rules of the Church.”
– The newspaper claims that “Archimandrite John Christodoulos regularly chatted with other men at night via the Grindr app aimed primarily at gay men.
Neos Kosmos has been unable to speak with this Archimandrite and the Archdiocese is yet to comment on the matter.
Neos Kosmos has been told by people close to the Archdiocese that the Archimandrite has reportedly claimed that he was a victim of identity fraud.
According to them, the Archimandrite claims that he did not create the account on the Grindr app himself and that someone else did, unknown to him, so as to compromise him.
He is claimed to have said that “only an idiot could be an Archimandrite and at the same time have an account on a gay website, and even have a picture of himself, and believe that this would not be noticed.”
However, The Advertiser claims that Archimandrite Christodoulos, who until now served in Adelaide and is now posted to St Nectarios church in Fawkner, Melbourne , was until a few days ago active on the gay meeting website Grindr.
It should be stressed that Archimandrite Christodoulos has not been charged by authorities with any offence.
The Advertiser also says it has received surveillance video taken by a private investigator from a public street, which appears to show several men visiting his home in Seacombe Gardens at night.
“One such visitor has also confirmed his night-time visits,” it says.
According to the newspaper, when it sent questions to Archimandrite Christodoulos he “deleted his profile picture on his Grindr account. He deleted his profile entirely early yesterday afternoon.”
It was officially posted by the Archdiocese that Archimandrite Christodoulos that he was coming to St. Nektarios in Melbourne, where he did indeed arrive a few days ago.
Since the publication in The Advertiser that post has been deleted.
Archdiocese circles have stated that they are unaware of the allegations made in The Advertiser and that an internal investigation is underway.
Archimandrite Christodoulos on Sunday did not appear at St Nectarios in Melbourne.
On Friday evening he participated in Vespers at the church of Axion Esti, but after the publication of the newspaper report, he has not been seen publicly.
Regarding the allegation of receiving money from worshippers – The Advertiser says up to $500,000 – people close to the priest call this claim “a fairy tale”.
They do add, however, that after the Archimandrite was removed from the Greek Community in South Australia, where he served after his arrival from Greece, he was left without an income and was helped financially by parishioners who did his shopping and other areas.
Father Christodoulos arrived in Adelaide from Greece in early 2011 after being disciplined by the Church of Greece.
Upon his arrival he was featured many times in Neos Kosmos (the late Neos Kosmos journalist, Kostas Nikolopoulos wrote a series of reports on him in 2011) before being removed from the churches of the Greek Community of South Australia.
In those publications, his journey through monasteries, a GOC (Old Calendarists) church and an abusive letter to Metropolitan Nikandros were mentioned, which had also led to his deposition at the time.
After his dismissal from the South Australian Fellowship and a brief stint in Wollongong he returned to Adelaide in 2014 and attempted to establish a new church.
He was eventually reinstated and in July 2020 was appointed pastor at St Andrew’s, South Australia.