MICHAEL CANTONIS' CORRESPONDENCE

WITH GOA AND THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE

MICHAEL G. CANTONIS
1650 Seabreeze Drive
Tarpon Springs, FL 34689

June 22, 2000

TO:

ALL MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF PHILOPTOCHOS
ALL MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF ARCHDIOCESANCOUNCIL AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am enclosing herewith the following photocopies of fax letters that I sent to His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, Resolution of the Executive Committee and a fax letter of Appeal to His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew, regarding the pension of His Eminence Archbishop Spyridon.

I would like you to know that neither of them extended me the courtesy of an answer.

(1) Letter to His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios dictated December 7, 1999.
(2) Draft proposal for the pension dated March 30, 2000.
(3) Final proposal for the pension dated June 5, 2000.
(4) Resolution of the Executive Committee of the Archdiocese adopted June 9, 2000.
(5) My letter to Archbishop Demetrios dated June 9, 2000.
(6) My Letter of Appeal to His All Holiness Bartholomew.

The Executive Committee, of which I am a member since last December (1999), has done everything possible to convince His Eminence Demetrios to implement the pension we voted for Archbishop Spyridon last year. In spite of promises given us in our Executive Committee meeting December 1999 by Archbishop Demetrios, "Trust me, I will resolve the matter by our next meeting in January", instead of fulfilling his promise, all we hear from him are excuses, delays and conditions for not implementing the Executive Committee decision.

One condition is: Archbishop Spyridon must go to Constantinople to meet with the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Holy Synod. In February 1999, Archbishop Spyridon went to Constantinople for a meeting and His All Holiness told the U.S. Metropolitans that "Archbishop Spyridon will be your Archbishop until he dies". This statement appeared in newspapers in Greece and Greek/American Newspapers in the USA. In spite of the above statement, the Patriarchate continued to make his live miserable through the Patriarchal friends in G.O.A.L., and in July of the same year, when they asked him to return to Constantinople for another meeting, they asked him to resign with the condition that he could retain his title of former Archbishop of America and receive his pension. We all know what happened after his resignation. They demoted him to the rank of Metropolitan of Chaldia (a non-existing one), which he had a right to refuse to accept under the Orthodox Cannon Law. They also refused to pay his pension that they promised.

Now, they want him to go back to Constantinople, who know for what?, for more humiliation? Havn’t they humiliated him enough? The G.O.A.L., run primarily by "Patriarchal friends" and some clergy, have made his life martyrdom. Is there any dignity left in our church? Why do they continue to harass him and deny him his pension? Does our church want a former Archbishop who served his Church for 31 years with dedication, dignity, love and hard work, to become a beggar and live in poverty? Why is the church continuing to destroy this MAN? Where are the love and forgiveness and compassion that it teaches? All I can see in this case is hatred and vindictiveness. A Church that does not practice what it preaches is doomed to disaster.

I cannot speak for Archbishop Spyridon, but I can say if I were in his place, I would not want to face my Christian brothers in Istanbul after the treatment of harassment and humiliation and unfulfilled promises. Archbishop Spyridon is a man of dignity, pride and self-respect, and is thrown out like a rag by the Church that he served for 31 years with dedication and love.

I am sorry that my statements appear strong, but we, the Greeks, have a saying, "When you are in pain, you scream."

Since the power and the actions of the Executive Committee have been nullified and ignored by the present Archdiocese, I hope that the voices of the other institutions of the Church will be heard.

Sincerely,
MICHAEL G. CANTONIS
Member of The Executive Committee
Member of HCHC Corporate Board
MGC:sc
Encl.

P.S. I have worked for my Church without any direct or indirect financial interest for 49 years. My donations in the last 15 years alone to the Archdiocese, its institutions and the Ecumenical Patriarch exceed $5 million. I am very concerned and worried about our Church’s present problems and its future.

BECAUSE OF MY HEALTH PROBLEMS DUE TO ACCIDENTS, AND THE LENGTH OF THE CLERGY-LAITY CONGRESS MEETING, I CANNOT ATTEND ON THE ADVICE OF MY DOCTORS.

Michael G. Cantonis
1650 Seabreeze Dr.
Tarpon Springs, FL 34689

December 7, 1999

His Eminence Demetrios
Greek Orthodox Archbishop of America
10 E 79th Street
New York, NY 10021

Your Eminence:

On the occasion of the Executive Committee meeting of next week, I very kindly ask you to bring this matter for discussion with the Executive Committee and make recommendation to me.

A few years ago, there was a movement by the Archdiocese to establish an Endowment Fund for the Ecumenical Patriarchate to raise tens of millions of dollars, invest them properly, and use the income for the benefit of the Patriarchate. This Endowment Fund was going to be established with the approval of IRS and, as I understood at the time, Mr. Michael Jaharis was working with attorneys for the preparation of the proper documents to submit to the IRS for their approval. Reverend Father Alexander Karloutsos was going to be in charge of fund raising.

During the fall 1997 when His All Holiness Bartholomew was on a visit to the USA, at a dinner given in his honor at a New York Hotel, there were pledges for such Endowment of over ten million dollars. I pledged $500,000 on that occasion. Later that year I sent a check for $170,000 to His Eminence Archbishop Spyridon and in addition, I opened a security account with a well known Wall Street firm, in the name of the Archdiocese and deposited certain marketable securities against my pledge. I appointed His Eminence Archbishop Spyridon as trustee of this account. With the check I sent a letter to him instructing him that the check and securities were to be transferred to the Endowment Fund after the official documents were approved by the IRS. Total of these funds amounted to a good portion of my pledge.

In 1998, before adding more securities to the above account, I asked Rev. Karloutsos about the status of the official IRS documents. Father Alex advised me that he did not know and asked me to find out from Mr. Jaharis. I realized then that if Father Karloutsos did not know anything regarding this Endowment Fund, there was something wrong. From outside and inside of the Archdiocese sources, I found out that no such Endowment Fund had been created. If I had known this, I would have never sent a dime against my pledge, as the rest of the people that pledged did. Then I contacted His Eminence Archbishop Spyridon, telling him that I was planning to send more securities to the account, but since the Endowment project appeared dead, we both agreed that the previous funds plus the new securities should be transferred to HCHC, Archbishop Spyridon’s Endowment Scholarship Fund, if no endowment for the Patriarchate came to existence by the spring of 1999. As we all know, His Eminence started an Endowment Scholarship Fund in 1998. In fact, I donated an additional $50,000 to the School, to be put into the Archbishop Spyridon’s Endowment Scholarship Fund.

The total amount of marketable securities plus the $170,000 check, amount today to over $800,000, and if you add to this amount the additional $50,000, the total comes to over $850,000.

Your Eminence, I have some thoughts. I can add an additional $150,000 to make it one million and (1) create a restricted trust fund and have the income go to Archbishop Spyridon’s pension, or (2) transfer everything to the restricted Endowment Scholarship Fund at HCHC, or (3) with the cooperation of the Trustee, Archbishop Spyridon, freeze these funds temporarily until I create a one million dollar restricted Endowment Trust Fund for the Ecumenical Patriarchate, if the Archdiocese put into effect a guaranteed satisfactory pension for His Eminence Archbishop Spyridon. This pension was voted by the Executive Committee earlier this year. I am sure that Archbishop Spyridon will not have any objection with any one of the above three alternatives. [I personally am in favor of (1) or (3)]

As you probably know, Your Eminence, the Executive Committee of the Archdiocese voted for Archbishop Spyridon Pension and I am going to make it easier for the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Archdiocese and the Executive Committee to implement the already voted and approved pension by the Executive Committee of the Archdiocese. I may add to this. After the passing of Archbishop Spyridon, the income of that Trust Fund can go either to the Patriarchate or to the Archdiocese, as you may decide. I hope that you will give this matter serious consideration and recommend to me what I should do.

With love and respect,
Michael G. Cantonis
MGC:sc

March 30, 2000

DRAFT PROPOSAL FOR GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE

ARCHBISHOP SPYRIDON’S PENSION TRUST FUND

INTIAL CONTRIBUTION OF $1,000,000.00 (ONE MILLION DOLLARS) TO THE FUND BY MICHAEL G. CANTONIS COMPRISED OF:

(1) MARKETABLE SECURITIES ALREADY DEPOSITED TO THE ACCOUNT OF THE GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE WITH PAINE WEBBER.

(2) CASH OF $170,000.00 (ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS) ADVANCED TO THE ARCHDIOCESE FOR THE SAME PURPOSE AS THE SECURITIES.

(3) BOTH THE ABOVE AMOUNT TO APPROXIMATELY $900,000.00.

UPON AGREEMENT TO IMPLEMENT THE PENSION FOR ARCHBISHOP SPYRIDON, I COMMIT MYSELF TO ADVANCE A CHECK FOR AN AMOUNT TO REACH THE ONE MILLION-DOLLAR FIGURE.

THE ABOVE TRUST FUND WILL BE ESTABLISHED FOR THE SPECIFIC PURPOSE OF SUBSIDISING ARCHBISHOP SPYRIDON’S PENSION TO BE IMPLEMENTED BY THE ARCHDIOCESE. 4% OF THE ASSETS OF THIS TRUST FUND WILL BE PAID ANNUALLY TO THE ARCHDIOCESE TO REDUCE THE ARCHDIOCESE’S COST OF THE PENSION AS SOON AS IMPLEMENTED.

AS TIME GOES BY AND THE PRINCIPAL OF THE FUND GROWS, HOPEFULLY FROM ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS FROM OTHER FRIENDS OF HIS EMINENCE SPYRIDON, AND FROM MARKET APRECIATION, THE 4% CONTRIBUTION TO THE ARCHBISHOP’S PENSION FUND WILL KEEP INCREASING TO THE EXTENT THAT THIS 4% CONTRIBUTION MAY COVER HIS EMINENCE’S TOTAL PENSION EXPENSE FORSEEABLE FUTURE AND WILL COST NOTHING TO THE ARCHDIOCESE.

ON A MORE OPTIMISTIC NOTE, THERE MAY BE SURPLUSES THAT CAN BE SPLIT BETWEEN THE HALKI THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL (WHICH I PRAY AND HOPE WILL OPEN SOON), AND ARCHBISHOP SPYRIDON’S SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT FUND FOR THE EDUCATION OF PRIESTS AT HCHC. THE DOLLAR AMOUNT OF THE PENSION WILL BE ADJUSTED EVERY 3 YEARS ACCORDING TO THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX.

SINCE NONE OF US WILL LIVE IN THIS WORLD FOREVER, AFTER ACHBISHOP SPYRIDON’S PASSING, THE FUND WILL STAY IN PERPETUITY AND THE 4% INCOME WILL BE SPLIT EQUALLY BETWEEN THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE AND ARCHBISHOP SPYRIDON SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT FUND AT HCHC FOR THE EDUCATION OF PRIESTS THAT THE ARCHDIOCESE NEEDS VERY BADLY.

I BELIEVE THAT THE ABOVE PROPOSAL IS FAIR FOR ALL THREE PARTIES-ARCHBISHOP SPYRIDON, THE ARCHDIOCESE AND THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE.

RESPECTFULLY,
MICHAEL G. CANTONIS
MGS:sc

Copies sent to:
- Executive Committee Members
- Mr. Michael Jaharis

Michael G. Cantonis
1650 Seabreeze Dr.
Tarpon Springs, FL 34689

June 5, 2000

His Eminence Demetrios
Greek Orthodox Archbishop of America
10 E. 79th Street
New York, NY 20021
Fax no. 212-570-3592

FINAL PROPOSAL FOR GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE

ARCHBISHOP SPYRIDON’S PENSION RETRICTED TRUST FUND

Your Eminence:

This is my final proposal that supplements the one that I sent to you on March 30, 2000.

The Archdiocese will create a Special Pension Restricted Trust Fund for the specific purpose of assisting (subsidizing) the Archdiocese to pay Archbishop Spyridon’s pension for life, with benefits to the HCHC and HALKI’s Theological School.

Michael G. Cantonis, within 60 days of implementation of the pension by the Archdiocese, agrees to transfer to such fund the sum of one million dollars in marketable securities and cash as stated in my proposal of March 30, 2000.

Other friends of His Eminence Spyridon may contribute to this fund. Already, another friend promised $100,000, and another, "He will help". Since the original starting amount deposited to this fund will be at least $1,100,000, 5% of the assets of this fund will go to the Archdiocese annually or $55,000 against the $80,000 basic amount of pension that the Archdiocese already agrees to give. However, with additional contributions from other friends of His Eminence Spyridon, and capital appreciation from investments, when the trust reaches $1,600,000, 5% of this will be $80,000, which means that it will cost nothing to the Archdiocese.

Since $80,000 is a poor pension amount for a retired Archbishop to live with dignity, and since the Executive Committee of the Archdiocese voted for a minimum of $112,000, which he deserves to live with dignity (he must pay rent, pay taxes, drive a decent car, ware decent clothes, pay health insurance, food, etc.), I propose to pay, at the beginning to the Archdiocese, the difference of $32,000 annually for his expenses. When the fund grows over $1,600,000 and the fund’s 5% exceeds the $80,000, any excess will reduce Cantonis contribution of $32,000 annually. When the fund assets exceed $2,240,000, Cantonis will cease to pay anything (5% of $2,240,000 equals $112,000).

Any amount over the 5% contributions to the Archdiocese from this fund exceeding $112,000 can go to HCHC Archbishop Spyridon's Scholarship Endowment Fund.

After Archbishop Spyridon's passing, the income of 5% will be distributed equally between the HCHC Archbishop Spyridon Scholarship Trust Fund and the Theological School of HALKI of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Your Eminence, it was last December, that in a meeting of the Executive Committee, you promised, "Please trust me, I will take care of Archbishop Spyridon's penion by our next meeting in January". For the last 6 months, all we hear is talk, promises and conditions, and no action.

Please give very serious consideration to this proposal and act immediately. It is about time. I regret to say that if by June 15th, you do not come with a definite satisfactory solution, I hereby give you my resignation from the Executive Committee and the Archdiocesan Council. Your Eminence, there is a limit to patience and fooling around for such a long time.

Respectfully,
Michael G. Cantonis

Copies:
- Executive Committee
- Archbishop Spyridon

RESOLUTION OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
OF THE ARCHDIOCESAN COUNCIL,
ACTING AS THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES,
OF THE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF AMERICA,

a New York State Non-Profit Religious Corporation
incorporated September 19, 1921,
under the Religious Corporation Law of the State of New York

WHEREAS, On June 15, 1999, this Executive Committee of the Archdiocesan Council,acting as the Board of Trustees of the Archdiocese, unanimously adopted a Resolution providing in pertinent part that His Eminence Spyridon be "deemed fully vested in and entitled to receive full benefits under the Plan and the Clergy Pension Program, upon his retirement or withdrawal for any reason from active service, irrespective of his age at the time of retirement or withdrawal, and it is further,

RESOLVED, that the Actuaries of the Plan and the Clergy Pension Program shall calculate the amount necessary to fund a retirement benefit equal to eighty percent (80%) of the annual salary of the Archbishop during the last year of his archiepiscopacy in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, which amount shall constitute the obligation of the Archdiocese…", and,

WHEREAS, His Eminence Spyridon did, on August 18, 1999, withdraw from active service to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America in concordance with a request by His All Holiness Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Holy Orthodox Christian Church, and the Patriarchal Synod, and,

WHEREAS, it was the expressed wish, prior to said withdrawal, of His All Holiness Bartholomew and the Patriarchal Synod that His Spyridon should receive said pension as a collateral benefit of his attornment to the Patriarchal request, and,

WHEREAS, from and after His Eminence Spyridon’s withdrawal from active service, the Archdiocese continued payment of full salary and benefits to His Eminence Spyridon until March, 2000, which this Executive Committee determines constitutes a payment of severance to His Eminence Spyridon, and,

WHEREAS,the Archdiocese has not yet commenced the payment for the monthly pension benefit which this Executive Committee has determined His Eminence Spyridon is fully and unconditionally entitled to receive, and,

WHEREAS, His Eminence Spyridon’s annual salary during the last year of his archiepiscopacy was $140,000 per annum for purposes of the determination of this retirement benefit, and,

WHEREAS, on August 5, 1999, this Executive Committee created and funded an irrevocable Grantor’s Trust to insure that a part of the funds would be available towards the unfunded liability of the Bishops’ Supplemental Retirement Plan, and,

WHEREAS, Mr. Michael G. Cantonis and the Michael G. Cantonis Foundation, Inc., donors of certain specific conditional gifts (the "Cantonis Gifts") to the Archdiocese, whose conditions the Archdiocese has failed to timely meet, have directed, in lieu thereof, that these gifts be utilized in full as a contribution to the irrevocable Grantor’s Trust established for the exclusive funding of the Bishops’ Supplemental Retirement Plan,

NOW, THEREFORE, by the Executive Committee of the Archdiocesan Council, acting as the Broad of Trusts of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, at this meeting dully noticed and called to order by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios on May 2, 2000 and adjourned "sine die" until this date, it is hereby

RESOLVED, that the Director of Finance of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America be and he is hereby directed, empowered and ordered to take all such action necessary in order to effectuate within seven days of the date hereof the payment and delivery to His Eminence Spyridon of the full amount of all pension benefits due to him, consistent with the June 15, 1999 Resolution, for the period commencing April 1, 2000 to the present date, and continuing hereafter on a monthly basis until his death, all such pension benefits calculated on the basis of 80% of $140,000 per annum, and it is further,

RESOLVED, that the Director of Finance of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America be and he is hereby directed, empowered and ordered to take all steps necessary, including but not limited to securing the execution of necessary documents by two signatories who are Officers and Members of this Executive Committee, to effectuate the transfer of the sums herein designated as the Cantonis Gifts residing in Account CW-18945 at Paine Webber Incorporated, Clearwater, Florida whose value at the close of market on June 8, 2000 is $769,741.14 and the other sum of $170,000.00 plus interest earned since received into a restricted account by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America on December 30, 1997, totaling $939,741.14 plus interest or appreciation earned on the $170,000.00 so that all of these sums are transferred to said Grantor’s Trust within two business days after the commencement and payment to date of all pension monies due His Eminence Spyridon, and it is further,

RESOLVED, that the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, in accordance with the directions of Michael G. Cantonis Foundation, Inc. be and it is hereby empowered and directed to receive, accept and apply these donations in the amount of Nine Hundred Thirty Nine Thousand Seven Hundred Forty One Dollars and Fourteen Cents plus accrued interest ($939,741.14 plus interest) from Michael G. Cantonis and the Michael G. Cantonis Foundation, Inc. for the sole and exclusive purpose of funding the Bishops’ Supplemental Retirement Plan, pursuant to and subject to the foregoing resolutions, and it is further,

RESOLVED, that the Director of Finance of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese is hereby directed to report the successful implementation of these resolutions or the status thereof to the executive committee in writing not later than ten (10) days following the adoption of this resolution.

Adopted on June 9, 2000 by the Executive Committee of the Archdiocesan Council of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America during its duly noticed and continued Meeting.

Michael G. Cantonis
1650 Seabreeze Dr.
Tarpon Springs, FL 34689

June 9, 2000

His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
10 East 79th Street
New York, NY 10021

Re: My letter of June 5, 2000
Dictated on June 9, 2000

Your Eminence:

I regret that the Archdiocese has failed to satisfy the conditions of my original gift and pledge in December 1997 concerning the then anticipated establishment of an Ecumenical Patriarchate Endowment Fund. As the donor, individually and through the Michael G. Cantonis Foundation (collectively the Cantonis Gifts), I expressly required that "if the above fund is not established by the end of 1998," the proceeds of my gift were to be used for "another fund of the Archdiocese." No tax exempt trust or corporation with the customary characteristics of an endowment and qualified under the Internal Revenue Code was established in a timely manner. This, of course, was a condition precedent to the utilization of these funds for such purposes.

On June 5, 2000, out of frustration with your unresponsiveness to my earlier good faith efforts over a period of six months to resolve the matter of the withholdings of a duly authorized pension from your immediate predecessor, His Eminence Spyridon, I offered a "final proposal" in writing. It involved, inter alia, the use of the Cantonis Gifts for the funding of a Special Pension Restricted Trust Fund to be established to pay Archbishop Spyridon’s pension. Despite the urgency of this matter, you once again proposed unwarranted delay and were unspecific in any meaningful way. No reasonable person could take comfort from your assurances. In fact, you demonstrated repeated failure to resolve the matter lawfully and fairly galvanized the Executive Committee to bring an end to the matter. Thankfully, the Executive Committee of this Archdiocese took decisive action to finally remedy your most unsatisfactory handling of this matter.

As a result of the action of the Executive Committee of the Archdiocesan Council on June 9, 2000, I hereby withdraw my reiterative offer in my letter to you of June 5, 2000 to fund a separate pension for His Eminence Spyridon and any other offer therein contained. In order to implement the Resolution adopted by the Executive Committee, I hereby direct that, subject to the Resolutions specific condition precedent "that all of these sums (totaling $939,741.14 plus interest) are (to be) transferred to said Grantor’s Trust within two business days after the commencement and payment to date of all pension monies due His Eminence Spyridon", the aforesaid sums contributed by me and the Michael G. Cantonis Foundation and which are held at Paine Webber and in other accounts of the Archdiocese, be transferred to the trust established at PNC Bank, as Trustee, entitled "Trust Under Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plan of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America", dated August 16, 1999.

Very respectfully yours,
Michael G. Cantonis

Cc: Executive Committee

MICHAEL G. CANTONIS
1650 Seabreeze Drive
Tarpon Springs, FL 34689
727-938-5067

April 24, 2000

His All Holiness Bartholomew
Ecumenical Patriarchate
Rum Patrikhanesi
34220 Fener-Halic
Istanbul, Turkey
FAX: 011 90 212 53 46310


Your All Holiness:

We pray that the passions, the crucifiction and the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ, will inspire us by His sacrifices, His teachings of compassion, forgiveness and love.

Your All Holiness, I believe you know enough of my love for our church, which embraces the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Archdiocese and its institutions. Events over the last couple of years have disappointed and hurt my feelings and my family’s, but our faith and love for our church is unshakable. Please believe what I say to you is a confession that comes from the bottom of my heart and soul, and is true as the sun rises every morning.

I have been talking with His Eminence Archbishop Spyridon by telephone about once every week. I can assure you that even though he is disappointed and hurt by the way he has been treated (hundreds of thousands of Greek Orthodox feel his pain), he bears no ill feelings against the Church or any hatred against anyone, including his enemies. A few days ago, I asked him questions regarding a rumor that he may go to court to secure his pension. His strong answer was, "I will never do such a thing. I will never do anything to hurt my church I prefer to eat onions for the rest of my life than to go against my church". Your All Holiness, Archbishop Spyridon is a dedicated servant of our church and loves it as much as any hierarch that I know. Disappointed and hurt? Yes he is. These feelings are human, but time heals everything. As Archbishop Iakovos said after Spyridon’s resignation, "Spyridon’s loss will be a great one for our Church because his future is ahead of him, not behind him." I read his statement in the press. I wish he had made similar statements of support for Spyridon when he was an active archbishop.

Your All Holiness, word is out that the Archdiocese has stopped Archbishop Spyridon’s salary and refuses to implement his pension. The Greek Orthodox flock in America knows that His Eminence Spyridon has served his church with dignity, dedication, energy and love for over 30 years, and that he does not deserve the treatment he has received during his years as our archbishop. Many people are asking, "Are they throwing him to the street like a rag? Has our church lost its dignity?"

Your All Holiness, I make a plea to you, please allow His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios to implement the pension that the Executive Committee of the Archdiocese voted for Archbishop Spyridon. Our new Archbishop Demetrios, whom we love and respect for his humility, wants to implement the pension, but reliable sources advise me that this pension is under your jurisdiction, and that unless he goes to Constantinople to meet with you, Archbishop Demetrios hands are tied up. It is human for him to hesitate to go to Constantinople for reasons we all know. This does not mean that some day in the future, he will not go. As I said before, time is a great healer.

Your All Holiness, I said to you in previous fax letters that the Church of America is not a few hundred G.O.A.L., and a small minority of priests, who unfortunately, continue to crucify the man against the Lord’s teachings. These few people do not represent the American Orthodox flock of more than 1.5 million. They continue to hurt this man. To deny him a decent living will be a detrimental blow to our demoralized and unhappy flock, and very degrading to the church and the Patriarchate, and will add vinegar to a terrible wound.

Your All Holiness, the morale of the Greek Orthodox flock in America is very low. It is shown by the poor economic support for our churches, the Archdiocese and HCHC which will get worse, not better. We are losing attendance and economic support. The flock is demoralized and many stay away and look for spirituality and consolation in monasteries.

Your actions, Your All Holiness, will heal many wounds and will improve feelings towards the Patriarchate and the church in general. I am appealing to your magnanimity, your fairness and your graciousness, your Christian compassion, your forgiveness and love and I am asking you to authorize Archbishop Demetrios to implement Archbishop Spyridon’s pension with no strings attached. It is extremely important for the dignity of our church and your prestige.

KALO PASCHA KE KALI ANASTASI.

With love and respect,
Michael G. Cantonis

Cc:
- His Eminence Demetrios
- Members of the Executive Committee