CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
Robert McCoppin
Chicago Tribune
Greek Orthodox church leaders from Chicago to Istanbul have remained publicly silent about the fate of a priest who pleaded guilty to stealing more than $100,000 from his former parish, while some church members continue to push for action against not just him but also his superiors in Chicago.
Some critics have called for the Rev. James Dokos to be removed from the priesthood following his plea Monday in Milwaukee to a felony theft charge. Others say the larger scandal is how leaders in the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago have dealt with the controversy, and they want to see changes among its top spiritual leaders.
Leaders in the Metropolis, which oversees dozens of churches throughout the Midwest, initially determined that Dokos did nothing wrong and declined to put him on leave from Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Glenview after a criminal investigation commenced over how he spent money from a trust fund for his previous church, Annunciation, in Milwaukee. Dokos was placed on leave after he was charged, but the resolution of the case has brought no clarity on whether the priest will return to his spiritual duties.
Church officials in Chicago and in the office of the Patriarch of Constantinople, Orthodox Christianity’s spiritual leader in Turkey, have not responded to requests for comment. Just this month, the Metropolis of Chicago announced the formation of a new office of media relations, but no one from that office has offered any comment or returned phone calls or emails since Dokos’ plea deal was completed. A spokesman for the archdiocese of America in New York, which claims 1.5 million members nationwide, said it was too early to say whether there would be disciplinary action in the case.
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