PHOTO: Annunciation Family Life Center & Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Chapel opened in 2018 in Lancaster NY.
By An Anonymous Helleniscope Reporter
Recently, another example of shattered trust in the Greek Orthodox Church has come to light. The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Buffalo, NY, has been rocked by accusations that its widely respected and praised priest, Father Christos Christakis, misappropriated church funds—or, as some parishioners put it, stole church funds. The large amount of missing money is shocking to many. It is alleged that at least $365,000, and possibly up to $550,000, was taken out of the “discretionary fund to provide financial assistance to individuals in need who sought his help,” as a letter sent to parishioners stated. However, some of the funds were “improperly diverted” for personal use. This fund was traditionally allotted to the spiritual leader of the church from the general funds without oversight, to simplify the process by which the priest could assist those in need. (Sources tell us that in years past, the fund was a tiny fraction of $365,000.)
The response from the congregation has been intense, marked by shock and anger—and rightly so. Where was the oversight? Who was “minding the store”? While the Church is not a business, many parish council meetings now focus mainly on finances, fundraising, and endless talk of raising money and encouraging increased donations from parishioners. (A few years back, the Detroit metropolitan was at church and walked up and down the aisle demanding that people “open their portofolia” and give more… I was shocked that he would do something like that.)
What about fear?
One question in the minds of parishioners is why there was such an exorbitant amount of money in the “discretionary fund” in the first place. Christianity is founded upon trust in God’s provision. The Lord’s Prayer itself asks for “our daily bread,” a posture of dependence rather than anxiety about tomorrow. When a church accumulates large reserves, it may inadvertently communicate mistrust in divine providence—a subtle, yet significant, theological misstep.
The early church in Acts is a model of radical generosity: “They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.” (Acts 2:45) The Christian witness has always been rooted in open-handedness—not hoarding. While prudence is not opposed to faith, the balance must be carefully weighed. Should a church even have investment accounts or slush funds or rainy day funds? In the 1970s, this same Greek Orthodox Church experienced a financial crisis that instilled the fear of losing the church. Did anyone consider discussing the factors behind the lack of financial support? No. One idea that gained traction was to organize a Greek cultural festival to raise funds. Perhaps a more introspective look at the lack of giving should have been prioritized.
If we assume there are many such human “needs”—an emergency rent payment, unforeseen medical bills, food supplements, etc.—which cannot be handled within the family of the needy person, then the act of taking this discretionary money for personal use becomes even more egregious. Father Christakis stated that a medical emergency necessitated his actions. But by some accounts, the Buffalo parish remunerated their priest with a hefty salary (some say over $120,000 per year) and benefits befitting a mid-level corporate head—comprehensive medical insurance, extended vacation time, an automobile (in the case of Father Christakis, a Mercedes), a home, etc.
Trust existed—and now trust no longer does. The question of whether a Christian church should maintain a substantial financial reserve in the bank is more than a matter of accounting. Blaming just one person for committing such a transgression will not solve the deeper problem of the factors that led to committing it. All human beings grapple with moral failure, and by pointing fingers at others, we are essentially pointing to ourselves. If the angry church members in Buffalo cannot perceive that, then Orthodox teaching has failed. Or is this act simply the peripheral behavior of a much broader malaise in our society—the secularization and materialism that infest the church, or conversely, the diminishment of faith in the church and its divinely created traditions?
PHOTO: The Old Church – formerly a Presbyterian Church – in the city center of Buffalo.
Well then… what about greed?
Throughout history, the institution of the Church has wrestled with the subtle shadow of greed—a force that, when unchecked, can erode its very foundation of spiritual service and communal trust. Tales abound of opulent cathedrals rising amid poverty, of leaders consumed by wealth and power, and of sacred messages twisted to serve material interests rather than higher callings. The Buffalo parish had, in recent years, been the beneficiary of the multi-million dollar fortune of a former parishioner—and by all accounts, Father Christakis had been instrumental in obtaining her consent to bequeath it. That led to a new church being built in an outer-ring Buffalo suburb, an action that was controversial, as the city location of the church was beloved by many longtime parishioners still living in nearby Buffalo neighborhoods.
Yet, a new church being established cannot be seen as greed… After all, greed within the church is seldom a matter of overt villainy. It often creeps in quietly, disguised as ambition or the pursuit of grandeur meant to honor the divine or justified by naming altruistic reasons. Fundraising campaigns intended to sustain missions and outreach sometimes devolve into competitions for prestige. Clerical authority, rather than fostering humility and service, may degenerate into the accumulation of wealth and power.
Nevertheless, the consequences are profound: faith communities risk disillusionment, the needy are left behind, and the glitter of gold overshadows spiritual teachings. But the true cost reaches far wider. When a priest misappropriates church funds, the ripple effects extend far beyond the simple tally of dollars and cents. The wounds inflicted are deep and communal, reverberating through the lives of individuals and the very soul of the congregation itself.
Besides the shaken trust and disillusionment of the parishioners themselves, divisions are created—between those who prioritize forgiveness over punishment and those who believe that legal punishment will rectify the situation. But of course, that can never happen. At least not in this world. The demand for punishment may say more about those demanding it than about the crime itself. (The amount of $365,000 has been repaid by Father Christakis, but the exact figure remains a question for the parish to determine.)
The real damage is to the faith itself—the Church and its reputation. That damage, for those who care about how society perceives them, is the broader perception of the Church as a moral and trustworthy institution. That perception sustains collateral damage when breaches of integrity fuel cynicism about religious institutions in general. News of financial misconduct casts a shadow that can linger for years, sowing seeds of skepticism in current and prospective members. The faith community’s public witness is compromised, undermining efforts to share its message of hope and redemption.
The priests and their calling are also damaged. The perpetrator is a loser in this tragedy. The priest, entrusted with spiritual guidance and stewardship, forfeits his integrity and vocation. He may face legal consequences, loss of livelihood, and profound personal regret. The opportunity for genuine leadership—rooted in service and humility—may be lost, leaving only a legacy of distrust.
Tragically, the Buffalo church now joins many other houses of worship of all faith traditions that have succumbed, one can say, to even more sinful practices and actions. Fear and greed triumphed over fearlessness and generosity—by both the perpetrator and by those who point fingers.
A very well written article. I would add that punishment should be forthcoming. Legal punishment. The Buffalo parishioners chose not to pursue criminal charges. But just think of what happens so often. George Floyd was arrested, handcuffed and killed in broad dayliight, for passing a faked $20.00 bill. If a black child stole from a candy store, in regular intervals, as the priest did, he would be sent to a reform school, to become a criminal when he is an adult. People are jailed for writing a check that bounced And we can go on and on.
Why shoulkd a priest be any different? The Buffallo priest, plus the priest in the All Saints church in Cannonsburg PA, who stole $150,000 was also not charged with a crime. So was the priest of the Annunciation church in Milwaukee, in 2016 who stole $100,000 and never prosecuted.
The millions that disappeared from the St Nicholas fund, no one was found to be responsible and the money never located. Jerry Demitriou, who stole $900,00.according to the archdiocese, got off scott free.
The culture of greed, as if running a business, has overtaken our churches. The priests’s salaries and compensations are too high, attracting men that are not dedicated to the church but only to make more money for themselves.
All those super-Christians, who claim that Christianity needs to be protected from atheists or Islam, or pride parades are wrong. It needs to be protected from its own. Especially priests.
Reply: bob karp,
Why you ask? Bc your precious George Floyd was resisting arrest & was overdosing on drugs which is what killed him – not the cop! Also Floyd had a long evil rap sheet like pointing his gun to a pregnant woman’s stomach.
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Please, spare us your PC drivel.
The priests who stole money have God to answer to but we exercise compassion towards our “spiritual family” the fallen clergy bc they serve the holy mysteries.
John 12:6 is clear as to why Judas volunteered to be in control of the “money-bag”…And while it remains true that the “financial temptation” for a priest to “dip into the money-bag” is real and exists, that is not the main story here.
The main story is that after 2000 years of Church history, Financial and General Controls (to reduce the risk of situations such as the one at Annunciation Church) are STILL lacking.
However, there is NO doubt that having a fund for the poor and those in need in general is something that every parish should have, support, and keep expanding upon. The story of Saints Andronikos and Athanasia from the 6th Century AD provide a great model to build upon, and some could argue that this was a “real and original Philoptochos” model:
https://www.agios-athanasios-mparas.gr/sermons/%CE%AD%CE%B3%CE%B3%CE%B1%CE%BC%CE%BF%CE%B9-%CE%AC%CE%B3%CE%B9%CE%BF%CE%B9-%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82-%CE%B5%CE%BA%CE%BA%CE%BB%CE%B7%CF%83%CE%AF%CE%B1%CF%82-%CE%B1%CE%BD%CE%B4%CF%81%CF%8C%CE%BD%CE%B9%CE%BA/
What do we mean by Financial Controls?
A) In a simplified sense, while it may be true that the priest should determine who gets assistance and perhaps even offer an opinion of “how much”, it should likely be someone else who has control over disbursing the funds. This would not eliminate all possibility of financial impropriety, because in theory a [very] corrupt priest could abuse the model by selecting “poor” people who are willing to “share” the generous gift with him behind the scenes…
B) And in this light, inn a broader sense, it’s not just about “assistance to the poor” that requires Financial Controls to reduce the risk of a priest or anyone else in a position of Parish authority “dipping into the money-bag”. There have been several other reports over the years in the media of expensive “Parish projects” being awarded without transparent “RFP” procedures to “contractor A” over “Contractor B” (who may not have been given the opportunity to bid). We have all seen such headlines over the years. And if “rumors in some parish coffee halls” are true, it is long overdue to conduct a forensic accounting investigation into such cases, including situations where for many years “preferred vendors” such as funeral homes almost appear to have exclusive “rights” to parishes, etc…Surely, there are many more, and even worse “rumors” worthy of a forensic investigation that could be listed here, but the readers get the point.
And what do we mean by “General Controls”?
1) Perhaps we should consider returning to the original Church practice where there was “no salary”, but where candidates for parish priests were “selected by the people”, examined by the bishop, but maintained their “secular jobs” in order to feed their families. Such models exist within some Orthodox jurisdictions in the diaspora, and they appear to be successful, because in this model, you end up with multiple priests and deacons per parish, with NO salary, who are able to “share the spiritual load” on a part-time basis. If a priest doesn’t “need the salary”, there is less probability that the priest’s fingers will explore what “coin” is “in the coffers”…
2) While we are at it, the concept of anonymity for both the donor and the recipient of financial assistance (without violating rules of audit) should be re-examined, in order to increase the level of donations and public trust. Scripture tells us that “the right hand shouldn’t know what the left is doing”, and that “whatever we do we should do privately” (so that only God knows), but the modern ecclesiastical-revenue generating engine that has evolved over the last couple of decades is based on an exactly opposite mindset…in GOARCH, it even penalizes those who don’t “visibly contribute” by labeling these individuals as “not in good standing” until they “visibly” pay up, depriving them of the Mysteries of the Church…(sounds like “selling the Holy Spirit”, which is a Canonical violation). Today, it appears the only way someone can donate anonymously to the Church is if they can escape the “drooling eyes” of the “candle sellers”, and somehow slip a significant amount of cash “in the box” (an open tray makes it more difficult to escape the piercing eyes of the “candle hawks”)…Only in this model, God knows what you have donated, and people don’t. Yet, in this model, the individual who can’t “prove to people” what they “tithed to God” is assumed to be a “spiritual criminal”, labeled “not in good standing”, and shockingly being deprived of Mysteries, only because the the GOARCH system “forces” everyone to become a “member” (even though “membership” in the Church is established on our day of Baptism), and locally the parish council and the priest determine there is no donation logged “in their name” (compare to the word “anonymous” and what Scripture tells us about anonymity of donations)… That is a problematic practice, and it has caused many people to “donate elsewhere”. How is this relevant to this article, you might ask? When people “donate elsewhere” or “donate less”, the parish may struggle to “pay the priest” sufficiently enough such that the priest is not “tempted” to “dip into the money-bag” to supplement his “needs”…
They are trying to convince us that a priest embezzled all these money and nobody from the parish council had no idea! How is it possible the priest to have access to the church accounts? That’s not possible! And how the President and the treasurer didn’t notice anything?
In my opinion, the AHEPA that dominates the parish council stole the money! Somehow the stealing was revealed and now AHEPA had to get out of the picture… The priest that is a member of AHEPA himself, accepted to take the blame if he is not prosecuted and I am sure AHEPA will take care of him after all this finishes…
Another proof that all this story is made up, is that the money were immediately returned! If the money were used for helping poor people or for the priest wife’s medical expenses, how they were returned immediately? Many things don’t add up in this story…
I suggest to the faithful Greek Orthodoxs that attend churches that are dominated by AHEPA, to avoid paying in cash!
You make some very relevant and important observations… whether AHEPA or not is in collusion, the fact remains that this church and many others hold financial accounts with brokers who are members of the church even holding positions on the parish councils. It could be that in return for favors the broker/financial advisor repaid the money. And we do not know if this is the total amount embezzled. Nobody knows at this point. As the Chinese saying goes: the rot begins at the head.
Eleni J,
According to the Archdiocese regulations, although the priest is considered the head of a parish, has no access to the parish bank accounts, because he is an employee of the parish!
So, it is very impossible the specific priest to have embezzled all these money from accounts that he cannot access!
On the other hand, it is impossible all these money to be withdrawn from the parish bank accounts and the parish council President and treasurer not to know it! Because they are the only ones that have access to these accounts!
I don’t think that the parish council had given that big amount of money to the priest in cash to keep it under his mattress…
I think the parish council has a lot of explaining to do. I think that at least the President and the treasurer have to resign and go home. I also think that AHEPA must stop being a parasite in our churches and find their own roof and start paying the scholarships of their children from their own pockets…
Christakis stole from Annunciation in Buffalo, NY. He bankrupted Sts. Constantine and Helen in Middletown, Ohio. Where will he be assigned to and steal from next?
There appears to me no accountability. He was compensated VERY WELL with salary, housing, car and phone allowance and, a Cadillac health insurance policy. The “he needed $ for wife’s medical bills” is a complete bull$hit.
He ruined Buffalo and hides behind his vestments, and the church supports it.
Anonymous,
The only way a priest can embezzle money, is if there is no parish council! Only if the parish council is decorative and has given to the priest responsibilities that he shouldn’t have! A priest cannot have access to the church bank accounts, because he is in the payroll of the church. Also, he shouldn’t be responsible for collecting cash donations. The priest’s job has nothing to do with money. That is the parish council’s job.
I understand AHEPA’s effort to blame the priest for everything and continue plundering the money of the unsuspected parishioners. But I think in this case they are done. The best choice of the AHEPA leeches is to leave this parish and go find a new parish to suck their money…
The “parish council” is a hand picked group of people selected by Christakis. By his deceptive design they have no connections or history in the Buffalo church, and they follow his command like good cult members.
I think that you are actually a wolf wearing a sheep skin, as Apostolos Makrakis the anti-mason theologian used to say…
Once again you are trying to divert from the truth. A priest cannot handpick the parish council. There are elections for the parish council, according to the Archdiocese regulations.
Unfortunately what usually happens, is that an AHEPA lodge that wants to dominate a parish, send their members to become stewards of the parish and elect only AHEPA members in the parish council! And the specific priest is an AHEPA member! So, he didn’t pick them, in fact AHEPA picked him!
And the proof that AHEPA is behind the money stealing, is that the AHEPA controlled parish council is not going to prosecute the priest that is also a member of AHEPA!
And in a few months, if there is a follow-up, you will see the priest appointed somewhere else, as a reward for his “sacrifice”…
I suggest to the parishioners to stop paying their dues until AHEPA leaves the parish. And when paying, to avoid paying in cash!
And I suggest to the William McKinley chapter 91 and all AHEPA leeches, to stop being a parasite in the Greek Orthodox churches. Your Masonic business has no place in a church or in a church website:
https://www.greekorthodoxchurchbuffalo.org/our-ministries/ahepa
For the most part part council members are lax and derelict in understanding their mission once they are sworn in. And sad to say there are financial entanglements that make things worse.
He drives a Tesla, not Mercedes, unless his wife does. He seemed shady from the moment he arrived in Buffalo. Constant complaints about the salary, the house the parish owned that he lived in, nothing was ever good enough for him
Sad to say he took lots of abuse as well.
There have been times when members of our church are outed from voting because of $$ “they” have put money limits so you can speak or vote . Well, my baptism allows to me to speak up and vote no matter what pledge amount I go to my church . There are individuals in our parishes who have big time money but they are not in good standing with church . Meaning they have don’t have marriages blessed in our church or don’t receive communion . What gives them the right to come to meetings or be thorns to any priest . Father Christos has had some bitter people who cannot abide by any church rules . Speaking about ICE cold people . Look at your own behavior. Priests guide you and they get complaints from Bishops .