Church locks out priest
MARLBOROUGH, MA — Leaders of the Greek Orthodox Church Sts. Anargyroi are engaged in a turf battle that has locked a priest out of his church and resulted yesterday in the firing of the parish council.
Parish council members learned yesterday they had been stripped of their titles by the Right Rev. Methodios Tournas, bishop of the Boston diocese, who named six new interim parish council members and barred the past council from running for office for the next three years.
The removal was punishment for ignoring Tournas’ directives by firing a priest assigned by the diocese and locking him out of the church because he spoke Greek but not English.
John Kritikos, president of the fired parish council, said parishioners want a priest who is fluent in Greek and English, because much of the parish is made up of second- and third-generation Greeks, and an English-speaking priest is the only way the church can attract and keep younger members.
”The majority of the people, for a long time all they wanted is an English-speaking priest,” Kritikos said.
A few months ago, the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston (the diocese) assigned the Rev. Andreas Markopoulos to the small community of of Sts. Anargyroi. He was the church’s first full-time priest
”He’s a wonderful priest. He does a wonderful liturgy. But he doesn’t speak English,” Kritikos said. ”All we’re looking for is someone who can communicate, especially with the children, who don’t speak Greek….After three months we decided to cut ties with him. We had a few problems, mainly related to his ability to communicate.”
The news caused a heated argument to erupt during a service two weeks ago, and Kritikos said the argument was headed toward violence after Mass.
In the name of safety, the parish council decided to change the locks on the church, he said. Then they cut Markopoulos to one-fifth of his pay and would not allow him back in the church.
The Rev. Anthanasios Demos, chancellor of the archdiocese, called the parish council insubordinate for disobeying its oath to ”uphold the uniform parish regulations and follow leadership of church as directed.”
”He locked the priest out of the church, which he has no right to do,” Demos said of Kritikos. The priest will learn English, Demos said.
”He’ll be fine by Christmas, otherwise we wouldn’t put him there.”
Kritikos said Markopoulos was imposed on the church community. The decision of whether a priest is appropriate ”should be a dialogue between (the diocese) and the parish council,” said Kritikos.
The parish council is an all-volunteer board and parishioners own the church building, pay the salary, health and retirement benefits of the priest.
”We recognize (the diocese) as spiritual leaders of the church,” but the dark ages of diocese making the decisions for a parish are over, Kritikos said. The parish council can only be removed by the general assembly of parishioners that voted it in, he said.
Nick Kofos, one of the six named by the bishop to the interim parish council, called the situation ”a difference of opinion.”
Divisions in church leadership began a few years ago when the church was devastated by a fire. Since then the small church has sought to restore its church and attract new members.
”Since we had our tragic fire, we’ve been on pretty rocky ground,” Kofos said. Parishioners are divided about what path the church should take, both in terms of leaders and financial issues.
”It’s kind of a turf battle at this point,” Kofos said. ”The majority of the members of this parish believe they should stick it out with this priest. We want to give Father Markapolous his chance.”
The new interim parish council tried to change the locks back yesterday, but could not convince the locksmith.
Kofos said he did not want to start an argument.
”The new interim parish council is non-confrontational. We walked away,” he said. ”We want to do everything by the books, we don’t want to do anything in a sneaky manner. ”It’s just a matter of who feels they have the rights to run the church, and we feel it is the priest, backed by the bishop and the archbishop.”