A charity for vulnerable children and mothers in Greece, founded by an awarded Orthodox priest, is rocked by allegations of sexual and physical abuse of minors by a staff member in its residences.

A preliminary police investigation is in progress, following the prosecutor’s order, after a 19-year-old man testified that, in 2020, he was the victim of repeated abuse by the same member of staff at the non-profit organization “Kivotos tou Kosmou”, also known as Ark of the World.

The man has named more children as victims of either sexual or physical abuse at the charity’s residences, who are expected to be called to testify.

According to the latest information, authorities are investigating three cases of sexual abuse and another three or four cases of physical abuse.

The developments regarding the involvement of the priest Father Antonios Papanikolaou, the head of the “Ark of the World” have prompted the Archbishop of Athens and all of Greece, Ieronymos II of Athens to order “an ecclesiastical investigation, following eponymous complaints before the competent authorities, against the cleric of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens Fr. Antonios Papanikolaou, to whom I ordered, with my decision, the prohibition of sacrificial acts until the trial of the case”.

“As a Church, we are at the disposal of the authorities, in order to contribute, in any way, to the complete clarification of this nightmarish case”, he points out.