Parishioners from St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Church in Noarlunga, South Australia have spoken out in defence of Father John Christodoulos amid allegations he led a sordid double life.
According to a report by The Advertiser, Father John allegedly obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from devout elderly parishioners, while flouting church teachings by regularly meeting other men at night via gay dating and chat app, Grindr.
Parishioners at St Andrew’s – the parish he served since 2020 before moving to a church at Fawkner in Melbourne last week – defended Father Christodoulos on Sunday in the face of these allegations.
“He’s a good person,” one parishioner told The Advertiser after the Sunday service at the church in Noarlunga.
Fellow priest at the Noarlunga church, Father Mark, said he was “in shock” at the allegations, but denied they were true as Father Christodoulos’ behaviour was “always appropriate.”
“If someone is gay you cannot hide it,” he said and added that if the allegations were true, Father Christodoulos “would be disordained.”
These comments came after a spokesman for Archbishop Makarios of Australia confirmed to The Advertiser that the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia was “not aware of the allegations,” but would be conducting an internal investigation into them. The spokesman said the investigation will be confidential.
Father Christodoulos has not responded to the allegations.
Source: The Advertiser.
