Metropolitan Axes Parish Council Pres
By Theodore Kalmoukos
Glenview, IL – In a controversy regarding alleged trust fund misappropriations by a current priest at the Saints Peter and Paul Church in Glenview, IL when he had served at another parish, Metropolitan Iakovos of Chicago removed James Gottriech from the presidency of the Saints Peter and Paul Parish Council, as well as from the Council itself. What prompted the metropolitan’s action was a letter Gottriech sent him conveying the Council’s unanimous request to place the priest, Fr. James Dokos, on a temporary on leave of absence until the Milwaukee, WI District Attorney completes a full-scale criminal investigation about the alleged misappropriations. The investigation pertains to a trust overseen by Dokos while at the Annunciation Church in Milwaukee, where he had served for 22 years. The prominent and well-respected Gottriech wrote in the September 18 letter to Iakovos, with a copy to Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos, that “we are advised that the District Attorney of Milwaukee has opened a formal criminal investigation of Fr. Dokos in connection with the Franczak Trust. The investigation has been widely reported in the press in both Milwaukee and Chicago, and on TV news broadcasts. Although Fr. Dokos has not requested a leave of absence from his duties at our parish pending the outcome of the investigation, his continuing to serve while under this cloud is hurting our parish life. Acting as if things are normal is dispiriting and demoralizing for many of our faithful, both those attending the Liturgy, and those who have difficulty pretending. Accordingly, we respectfully ask that you place Fr. Dokos on leave of absence until this investigation is concluded and that you assign, on a temporary basis, a retired or active priest who does not presently have a parish assignment, to serve along with Fr. [Presbyter Panagiotis] Boznos.” He also wrote that “setting aside for the moment the cloud that this criminal investigation has cast over our parish, we must address the issue of succession so that we are prepared when the time comes. [Dokos has, since he arrived, expressed his expectation that his ministry at the parish would be “short-term”]. When, and under whatever circumstances Fr. Dokos leaves our parish, we assure you that our Parish Council will be prepared to actively participate and be “consulted” in any future assignment of our Proistamenos [Art. 17, Sec.2 of the UPR].” In a response on September 20, Iakovos wrote that the dispute does not involve the Saints Peter and Paul Church, parish council or any parishioners and there is “nothing that would suggest to us, as the canonical hierarch and archpastor, that Fr. Dokos is incapable or otherwise impeded from fulfilling his priestly, pastoral, and administrative duties. There are no parallels between past conditions and circumstances at the Annunciation Church and those present at Saints Peter and Paul, and there is no possibility that the matters in dispute could have any effect on our parish in Glenview.” Iakovos also alleged that “on at least two occasions we have indicated to the president of the Parish Council that any discussion of the circumstances involving the dispute between Fr. James and the Annunciation Church was inappropriate for the Saints Peter and Paul Parish Council and explicitly prohibited such discussion as communicated to the Parish Council president through the Chancellor His Grace Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos.” Iakovos also wrote that “Fr. James will not be suspended from his priestly duties, nor will he be directed to request or take a leave of absence. In fact, we commend Fr. James for his conduct during this difficult period”. Iakovos declared in his letter that “by our decision and authority, Mr. Jim Gottreich is removed from his office as president and from his membership on the Saints Peter and Paul Parish Council effective immediately.” Iakovos’ decision has created turmoil within the parish. The Council has voted unanimously to request from the Metropolitan to reconsider his decision and reinstate Gottreich, whose daughter is a district attorney and his son a defense attorney. The whole issue started in 2008 when Annunciation parishioner Margaret Franczak shortly before her passing established the nearly-$2 million Ervin J. & Margaret S. Franczak Trust, designating Dokos as Trustee. The Trust was created to benefit the Annunciation parish, which did receive $1,100, but alleges that Dokos had used huge amounts of money from the trust, ranging anywhere from $135,000 to $729,000. The Annunciation parish, after many requests to Fr. Dokos to provide a complete accountability and failure to receive accurate numbers and accountability, referred the matter to the district attorney and asked him to investigate. According to hundreds of documents obtained by TNH, Dokos wrote the first check to himself for $5,000 his fee as Trustee. He also wrote checks to his personal credit card totaling about $50,000, and checks to his family members and himself totaling $75,000. Dokos also wrote checks to Bishop Demetrios totaling $7,200, one check to Metropolitan Tarasios of South America for $10,000 and one of $4,500 to Metropolitan Nikitas of Dardanelia. TNH has learned that Margaret Franczak had transferred her Florida apartment to Dokos, and that he sold it. Dokos denies any wrongdoing, and the Chicago Metropolis attorneys assert that Dokos did nothing inappropriate. But the Milwaukee District Attorney launched a full-scale criminal investigation into the matter. In May 2012, Bishop Demetrios transferred Fr. Angelo Artemas from Saints Peter and Paul to Annunciation in exchange for Dokos without parish approval or an explanation. Gottriech told TNH “we didn’t request Fr. Artemas’ transfer, we only found out about it three weeks before it happened. We had no idea that it was even going to happen and we never being given a reason why. It was done. The hierarchs decided and it was done.” Speaking about Dokos, Gottriech said “sometime in August we found out that there was an inquiry in Wisconsin of Fr. Dokos handling a Trust. We didn’t do anything until we found out that it became a criminal investigation. Once we found that out I called a special meeting of the Parish Council and the council voted unanimously to send a letter to the metropolitan asking for Fr. Dokos is placed on leave of absence pending the criminal investigation in Wisconsin…Surprisingly, a couple of days ago the metropolitan replied by removing me as president form the parish council and from the council altogether. Gottriech says that Iakovos’ response charged that Gottriech had discussed the Wisconsin investigation with people there, which Gottriech says is not true Gottriech said “I go to church to worship; I don’t go to church to have fights. I have been there for 50 years. I have been on the Parish Council for over 25 years, I was chairman of the picnic for three years, I was the president in the 1980s when we bought the land next door, and I am well-known and respected in that church. Parishioners are calling for support, the place is going crazy. I feel betrayed by my church, by the hierarchs who supposed to be the shepherds of the church and it turns out they are not.” Gottriech pointed out that “Bishop Demetrios of Mokisos received money from Fr. Dokos; from the Trust directly to Demetrios and cashed by him. How are they going to explain that? I think there is something wrong. The parish knows these things. It’s everywhere.” Would Gottriech reach out to Iakovos or Demetrios? “No, I won’t talk to those people. I have nothing to say to them, they betrayed me. I met with Bishop Demetrios twice before over the last three months and he blew us off. Our parish is made up of lawyers, doctors, and businessmen. I think they picked on the wrong people.” Iakovos and Dokos did not respond to TNH’s request for comment. As for Dokos, Gottriech said, he “never mentioned the investigation. He acts as if it doesn’t exist. We had two meetings. In the Executive Committee meeting I brought that up and I said there are all these reports and rumors from Wisconsin, he picked up a lot of papers waving them in the air and saying ‘I have proof here that I did nothing that was improper,’ but nobody ever saw them nobody knew what he was talking about. “I was standing at narthex and people came up to me and told me that we don’t want to take Holy Communion from him with this cloud hanging over him. I said ‘relax nobody is guilty until is proven so.’ I am trying to be the voice or reason.”
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