THE Greek Orthodox Church, facing a scandal over alleged bribing of judges, drug dealing and theft of antiquities, called an emergency meeting of its Holy Synod yesterday as Archbishop Christodoulos, the head of the Church, promised to stamp out corruption.

One bishop, Metropolitan Panteleimon of Attica, is to appear before the synod today to explain claims, aired on Greek radio and television, that he had boasted of having control over judges who might be called upon to rule in a dispute over his appointment.

A second bishop, Metropolitan Theoklitos of Thessaly, has been asked to answer allegations that he was arrested in civilian clothes in a central Greek nightclub last year during a drugs bust.

At the same time, an arrest warrant has been issued for Archimandrite Iakovos Yiosakis, a former monk accused of stealing ancient relics from archaeological sites on the island of Kythera while serving in a monastery there.

He was not at home in Piraeus yesterday when police went to arrest him. He has been charged with antiquities smuggling and embezzlement, some of it in connection with a stint as a priest in Chicago.

All three claim to have been close aides to Archbishop Christodoulos, who said yesterday:

“I have only one task at the moment — to eradicate corruption from within the Church.”

After yesterday’s four-hour meeting, the synod asked the Greek Government to amend its ecclesiastical laws to allow the Church to take tougher legal action against its wayward clergymen. So far the Government has guarded its constitutional right to enforce the laws in church issues.

The most serious charges are those against Metropolitan Panteleimon. His accusers say that the alleged taped telephone conversation is evidence that he wielded strong influence over at least one judge who has been suspended by Greece’s highest court for taking large bribes to free convicted drug dealers from jail.

Three other judges face similar penalties, while nine more are under investigation. The bishop did not deny allegations that he was the manager of a mutual fund worth at least €1 million (£690,000), most of it in the names of his relatives, but defended it on the ground that he needed “something to put by for an emergency”.

Panteleimon’s appointment in 1998 was claimed to be fraudulent by hundreds of parishioners who rioted in churches in northern Athens and took unsuccessful legal action to overturn it.

Archbishop Christodoulos himself is under fire from some bishops who claim that he knew of the scandals for a long time but did not take action until the media forced him to. Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Zakynthos, a noted liberal, predicted: “A tsunami is coming and it will reach the Archbishop himself.”

Any senior clergyman found to have committed a crime or severe breach of ethics faces a six-month suspension and one-third cut in pay, a synod spokesman said yesterday.

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