TORONTO (CANADA)
Toronto SUN
December 14, 2017
By Michele Mandel
TORONTO — Stealing donations for a sick baby, the appointment of known sex abusers and skimming money earmarked for the poor are some of the explosive allegations in a Greek church civil war now raging in Toronto.
In 2012, when baby Alexander Karanikas needed more than $100,000 to airlift him home from Greece for lifesaving heart surgery at Sick Kids, the Greek Canadian community rallied and raised thousands of dollars after the fundraiser was announced by the archbishop (“the Metropolitan”) of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto (Canada).
But most of the money never reached the child’s family, a lawsuit claims.
Instead, according to the suit filed by the Greek Community of Toronto (GCT), the Metropolis handed over a paltry $1,450 of the estimated $50,000 they raised and never issued the promised charitable tax receipts. “In misrepresenting the intended purpose of the subject fundraiser and the amount of the collected donations, from which they then personally benefitted, (they have) harmed and damaged the Greek Orthodox Churches’ reputation in Canada, in general, and GCT’s reputation in particular.”
That’s just one of many shocking allegations contained in the statement of claim filed recently against the Metropolis, its archbishop, Sotirios Athanassoulas, four priests, members of the church’s women’s auxiliary as well as the wife and children of Father Philip Philippou for allegedly misappropriating funds earmarked for the sick, homeless and poor.
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