In a recent decision, a Swedish court directed that the Swedish labor union “Vision” pay additional compensation to the Holy Metropolis of Sweden and All Scandinavia following the retraction of a lawsuit filed by the former.

Specifically, a former clergyman of the Church of Greece serving on loan at the Holy Metropolis of Sweden, who refused to return to his original parish position in the Metropolis to which he belonged organizationally following the completion of his second and final two-year term of secondment was removed from the office of the priesthood and returned to the status of a layman by decision of the Synodical Court of the Church of Greece, which had jurisdiction over the matter.

The former clergyman in question, who had registered as a member of the Swedish labor union “Vision,” sought recourse from this organization and filed a lawsuit against the Holy Metropolis of Sweden in which he sought financial compensation and the restoration to the parish post where he had been serving in Sweden while on secondment.

In November 2022, ahead of the commencement of the trial, the Swedish labor union “Vision” withdrew the lawsuit against the Holy Metropolis of Sweden, at the request of the former clergyman, on whose behalf it had been acting, since they realized that the case was entirely groundless and frivolous. This meant legally that the Holy Metropolis won the lawsuit.

The Holy Metropolis subsequently sought restitution for the legal expenses it incurred in this case. Ultimately, in March 2023, the Swedish court found in favor of the Holy Metropolis of Sweden and directed the original plaintiff to pay for this legal expense, with the financial obligation being assumed by the union “Vision”.

Subsequently, the Holy Metropolis of Sweden filed a second claim for payment of additional financial expenses for legal and other costs in the case. Finally, a few days ago, the Swedish Court vindicated the Holy Metropolis of Sweden and ordered the plaintiff to pay the said additional financial expense, which was again borne by the “Vision” Trade Union.

The Holy Metropolis of Sweden and its Archpastor His Eminence Metropolitan Cleopas express their thanks to the legal counsel and advisers who handled this case, noting that this latest judgment marks yet another successful milestone in the clearing of all allegations wrongfully made against the Holy Metropolis regarding the handling of its finances. These allegations were previously proven to be groundless following separate relevant findings and reports released by the Swedish Tax Agency and the Swedish Agency for Support to Faith Communities (SST), which had assigned the well-respected public accounting firm KPMG to conduct an audit.

From the Metropolis Headquarters