The Turkish authorities arrested the Grand Archimandrite of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Agathangelos Siskos, for allegedly stealing a valuable pocket watch, which had been made for a collector’s collection in 1800 on behalf of the Palaces.

According to the Greek website “National Herald”, the Great Archimandrite was taken to prison from where he was released with the intervention of the police guard of Patriarch Bartholomew. According to the same source, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew put him on leave indefinitely, while he appears terribly troubled and saddened by the incident because the Patriarchate is being defamed.

The owner of the store in her statements to the Turkish media said, among other things, that “it is a shame because the perpetrator is a member of the Patriarchal Court and he should have thought about the institution he represents and be more careful”. Watch videos from Turkish media about Archimandrite’s arrest.

The Great Archimandrite, who is originally from Kastoria, went to the Patriarchate as a layman and was ordained a deacon and elder there, he is also the Arch-Guardian of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

In a telephone conversation between the “National Herald” and the Great Archimandrite Agathangelos Siskos, the following dialogue followed:

National Herald: Do you have any comment on the watch theft incident you were involved in?
Father Agathangelos: Thank you first of all for the interest you are showing, journalistic obviously. The matter has been assigned to the legal team. While an investigation is being carried out, I am not allowed to say anything and I also do not have the permission of the director of the Press Office of the Ecumenical Patriarchate because it is an institutional issue, because in the said video the said lady refers to the status of a cleric of the Patriarchate, so it is institutional the issue and I’m not allowed to say anything.”

National Herald: However, the person in the video is you.
Father Agathangelos: I told you this, I cannot tell you anything else.

National Herald: Why did the Patriarch put you on indefinite leave?
Father Agathangelos: This is a spiritual issue that the Patriarch himself knows, now what can I tell you?