By Nick Stamatakis
“I never received a bonus or a percentage of the money I raised…” Karloutsos said recently to the Greek Reporter in a clear PR attempt to reverse the downhill slide in the midst of St.Nicholas failures and Mike’s court battles… Helleniscope reported and commented on such a statement by asking a question: “Would you be willing to make such a statement under oath?”
The audacity of his statement brought to our memory a letter Karloutsos had sent to the finance committee of the Clergy-Laity Conference. Our attention was brought to this letter by a comment by GreekNews last October. We are reminded that in that letter Karloutsos explained why for five straight years his parish of Kimisis Theotokou at the Hamptons does not pay any dues to the Archdiocese. What does he say? He says that he had raised $550.000 from a contractor as a donation for construction work done at 10 East 79th Street and this is why his parish does not pay any dues…
Greek News has commented on how insulting it is for the contractor, who certainly did not need Karloutsos to donate money to the Church and also on Karloutsos. The specific instance says a lot about the “Karloutsian mentality”: it leaves no doubt that in his mind fundraising for the Church is work that deserves to be remunerated by “fees” in one way or the other…
The arrogance displayed here is beyond description… Hubris in Ancient Greek is certainly etymologized by its “religious” connotations, but the concept does not begin to measure the arrogance of a so-called priest, who sticks his tongue out at everything we deem sacred and holy… Who has betrayed in myriad ways his mentor, Archbishop Iakovos, without whose support he would not be known “by the doorman of his apartment building” (as the proverbial Greek expression goes) and fundraising would be a distant dream…
No Karloutsos, no statement under oath is needed… Your actions made the statement unnecessary…
April 12, 2021, n.stamatakis@aol.com, www.helleniscope.com
