Jailed Drug Priest Defrocked

Cyprus Mail
February 7, 2013

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/cyprus/jailed-drug-priest-defrocked/20130207

THE Holy Synod yesterday defrocked a priest who was found guilty of drug trafficking last year.

The decision to defrock Panayiotis Triantafyllou, 37, was unanimous, an announcement said.

The former priest is currently doing a five-year stint in prison after he was caught in possession of some three kilos of cannabis.

The drugs were found in his suitcase upon his return from Athens in April 2012. Triantafyllou, a Greek national, had told the police that he had accepted €1,000 and a return plane ticket in return for carrying the suitcase because his wife was ill. He later said his actions had been a mistake.

Triantafyllou joined the Church of Cyprus around 10 years ago.