Author reveals bogus miracle cures at monastery

The dark side of religious tourism and an extensive miracles racket operating out of the Saint Avakoum monastery in Fterikoudes were exposed on Monday, adding to the slew of scandals brought to light about goings-on at the religious site last week.

According to neighbouring Palaichori resident Sofronis Sofroniou the revelations to date are merely the tip of the iceberg and the deceptions taking place in the surrounding communities, which also drew miracle-seekers from far and wide, have a more sinister dimension.

Speaking extensively to the state broadcaster, Sofroniou, an award-winning writer, painted a disturbing picture of the past three years.

Since 2021, after a popular broadcast managed to convince a large proportion of the population that “something big” was happening people began swarming to the monastery looking for healing miracles, Sofroniou said.

He described how it got so out-of-hand that he was daily having to guide lost visitors on their way to the site.

“I and some others felt it was necessary to begin observing the situation, especially after some outrageous incidents were brought to our attention,” Sofroniou said.

He went on to describe the case of an elderly woman who had been exhorted to donate €5,000 towards decorating the saint’s grave (under the church foundation), leaving her desperate and unable to afford her electricity bill.

Other elderly residents also proceeded to “donate” plots of land and property or money.

“At first we tried speaking to them [fellow residents] to dissuade them from donating [large] sums of money or property but after a while I decided it was necessary to speak to the police because of the severity of the situation,” Sofroniou explained.

However, when he tried, the process was extremely cumbersome and he was met with resistance.

“When I called the CID after first being grilled as to why I was even pursuing the matter and what I might stand to gain by it, I was told that the police themselves visit the monastery.  When they finally seemed to grasp the gravity of the situation […] I was told it was nonetheless sanctioned by the bishopric and [the police’s] authority had its limits.”

Sofroniou described how in addition to direct extortion of material goods from the faithful, a large side-show of miracles and pilgrimages was being orchestrated by private entities with a lot of social media clout, locally, in Greece and elsewhere.

“This sideshow was being conducted by individuals with over 100,000 followers advancing the ‘religious trade’ and presenting weekly videos of supposed miracles,” Sofroniou noted.

A brief search by Cyprus Mail on social media sites Facebook and TikTok indeed reveals evidence of such videos, some now seemingly removed.

Large gatherings were held with much funfair where the faithful were invited to venerate arrivals of the saint’s relics and his slippers, while last year in neighbouring Pano Deftera, an event to venerate the mixed relics of Avakoum and another saint proved so popular that a three-day event turned into a five-day event, certainly involving massive profit from the whole scene, Sofroniou said.

After feeling he got nowhere with the police, the writer last year requested and gained an audience with the Bishop Isaias of Tamasos himself.

“I spoke for an hour, explaining the issue and telling him what I knew. [The cleric] behaved as though he had no idea about all of this and said he’d have to go and check out the situation,” Sofroniou said.

In a related episode, Palaichori residents banded together to rid themselves of their newly assigned priest (one of the monastery monks) who also acted as treasurer, after financial abuses became evident a mere three months into his appointment.

“Even the extremely religious spoke of it but they hushed up if any church officials-or the deputy ministry of tourism-arrived to promote the community,” Sofroniou revealed.

“What is heinous is that the legitimacy provided to the goings-on by [political as well as religious] authorities made people feel cowed,” the author said.

Responsibility also belongs to large media channels which have played along, profiting from the whole scene and encouraging people to seek miracle cures for serious medical conditions—a criminal act, he added.

“Since the situation has been exposed you can sense the relief, people feel more free to speak openly,” Sofroniou said, noting that those who were exhorted ought to be given swift access to justice, however, hinting obliquely that the situation “goes much deeper” than he felt comfortable speaking about in public.

Earlier, police spokesman Christos Andreou, clarified to CyBC that two lines of investigation are currently underway, one concerning claims by clerics who reported financial crimes of their members, and the other, an inquiry into statements brought to police by four monks, including claims of kidnapping.

Andreou sought to counter reports that the monks in question had initially been refused the right to file a statement when they presented themselves to the Lakatamia police station on Friday, saying that arrangements were made for them to give their statements promptly, the very next day.