‘Weeping Icon’ Goes to Court; Church Sues Insurer for Refusing Its Claim

First there were mysterious tears, then brazen theft, followed by a seemingly miraculous return.

Now, the Icon of St. Irene, a 1919 portrait that brought worldwide attention to two Greek Orthodox churches-one in Chicago and another in Queens, New York-has become the subject of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit.

The litigation pits the New York church, the St. Irene Chrysovalantou Cathedral in Long Island City, against Cigna Insurance Co., which has accused St. Irene’s of fraud.

It all began in the winter of 1991. It was then that the already famous icon, a 6-by-8-inch painting on wood of the patron saint of peace and the sick, was reported stolen by armed thieves from the church sanctuary.

Five days later, on Dec. 28, as bells pealed and jubilant parishioners offered up prayers of thanksgiving, the church announced that the renowned “Weeping Icon” had been returned by mail, minus its jewel-encrusted gold frame.

The icon, painted by a Greek monk, had become known around the world a year earlier when congregants at St. Athanasios and St. John the Baptist Church on Chicago’s Northwest Side, where the icon was on loan, had reported the portrait had shed tears.

When the icon was returned to St. Irene’s, there were reports that the portrait had wept “tears of grief” on the eve of the Persian Gulf war. Thousands of the faithful flocked to both churches.

In its lawsuit, first reported Friday in The Wall Street Journal, the church has demanded compensation for the missing jewels under an insurance policy with Cigna.

The church is seeking $1.2 million for the jewels, plus $3.6 million in punitive damages because Cigna denied its claim.

The insurance company has asked the state Supreme Court in Queens to deny the claim. “Our policy says in part that, if there is any fraud or false swearing in connection with the claim, then the policy is void,” said Ira Greenhill, the lawyer representing Cigna. “That is the basis of our motion.”

Greenhill said a church ledger, dating to 1972, listed the jewels that had been donated over the years and were reported stolen. But the ledger, he said, had not been manufactured until 1990.

In a statement, Bishop Vikentios, the archpastoral dean of the cathedral, said: “The insurance company’s statement that our claim is invalid is completely untrue. It is simply a negotiating tactic so that the insurance company does not have to pay the money they owe under the insurance policy.”

Greenhill said he had repeatedly told George Razis, the lawyer for the church, that no settlement was possible. Razis could not be reached Friday for comment.