Statement by the Holy Metropolis of Sweden

The Holy Metropolis of Sweden and all Scandinavia was surprised to learn of several articles published lately by the newspaper Göteborgs-Posten (gp.se), and written by the reporter Mr. Michael Verdicchio and his colleagues, which include libelous references against His Eminence Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden, based on untruthful, distorted or fabricated stories.
The journalist in question contacted the Holy Metropolis on several occasions, making a number of accusations, and although the Metropolis requested objective “proof” and “supporting” evidence, the Holy Metropolis has not received any such evidence.
The reason for this is obviously that any objective evidence for the accusations made in the articles does not exist. The accusations are based on untrue or totally distorted statements made by persons who have no positions in the church, clearly with the sole purpose of damaging the church.
The Holy Metropolis denies all accusations in the articles and distances itself from the inappropriate actions that are mentioned in the articles.
The Holy Metropolis will shortly respond to every single false accusation, disclosing the real facts, which will demonstrate that all accusations in the articles are either untrue or totally distorted.

Stockholm, November 18, 2021