Article

2 More Alleged Victims Come Forward Against Katinas

Author: Theodore Kalmoukos

Date Published: 12/7/2007

Publication: The National Herald (USA)

New Court Petition Details Alleged Cover-Up by Church Officials

BOSTON, Mass. – Two more alleged victims of former priest Nicholas Katinas have come forward, according to an amended legal action which has already been filed on behalf of two other alleged victims. The fourth alleged victim is from of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is referred to as John Doe IV. He has apparently “attempted suicide several times,” according to the petition.

The complaint also alleges Rev. Nicholas Triantafilou, vicar general of the Archdiocese during the time of the alleged sexual abuse against minors, and currently president of Hellenic College/Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, “covered up” complaints about Katinas, which had been brought to his attention. Father Triantafilou had many meetings with the parents and the boy, and apparently convinced them that their son, who was 11 years of age at the time, had misunderstood Mr. Katinas’ actions and behavior.

Similar allegations of a cover-up had been raised in the petition against Metropolitans Iakovos of Chicago and Isaiah of Denver. The latter was serving as chancellor of the Chicago Diocese at the time.

Mr. Katinas was accused of sexual misconduct with minors earlier this year, and was defrocked by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople this past summer, upon the recommendation of the Holy Eparchial Synod of the Archdiocese. The lawsuit is also lodged against the Archdiocese, the Metropolis of Denver and Holy Trinity Church in Dallas, Texas where Mr. Katinas served as head priest for 28 years. The parish recently sent a letter soliciting its parishioners for $250,000 in extra funds to help defray legal fees for defending the parish. The letter stated, “The church’s assets – most notably its land and buildings – could be seized to satisfy the judgment.”

This past February 21, Archdiocese Assistant Chancellor Michael Kontogiorgis told the congregation of Holy Trinity that Mr. Katinas had “engaged in serious moral transgressions.” Mr. Katinas also stands accused of sexual misconduct with minors at a parish he served earlier in his ministry, the Assumption Church in Olympia Fields, Illinois. The Archdiocese also issued an official news release essentially conceding that Mr. Katinas had allegedly abused minors sexually.

Archbishop Demetrios of America tried very hard to salvage Mr. Katinas by transferring the accused former priest to the direct ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Archdiocese in New York, placing Mr. Katinas under suspension from his priestly duties, but refusing to send him to Spiritual Court to be defrocked. Under heavy pressure from all directions, the Archbishop was eventually forced to send Mr. Katinas to Spiritual Court, and Mr. Katinas was finally defrocked to the ranks of the laity in June.

Soon after the scandal circulated in ecclesiastical circles, Father Triantafilou and Rev. Dr. Theodore Stylianopoulos, professor of New testament Studies at Holy Cross, traveled to Dallas in support of Mr. Katinas.

The National Herald left messages with Demetrios, Iakovos, Isaiah and Father Triantafilou, but none had returned their calls.

According to the lawsuit filed by attorney Tahira Meritt on behalf of the alleged victims, “Sometime in 1985, the parents of John Doe IV, along with their seven other children, moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Plano, Texas in search of work. Doe IV, the oldest of three boys, dreamed of becoming a priest, so both he and his father had been very active in their local church in Milwaukee, serving as an altar boy and subdeacon, respectively. When the family moved to Plano, they immediately sought an Orthodox church to meet the family’s spiritual needs. Although Holy Trinity in Dallas (then located on Swiss Avenue) was some distance from their home, they became parishioners. As they had done in Wisconsin, Doe IV immediately began serving under Katinas as an altar boy, while his father assisted as a subdeacon. Although the young family struggled financially, they freely gave of their time and money to the church. The Father of John Doe IV noticed that Katinas always wanted his son to stay behind and clean the altar after mass, which seemed somewhat unusual to him because, in Milwaukee, the priest would have the subdeacon stay and do the cleaning. However, since Katinas was a priest and because he never imagined that a clergyman would harm his son, the Father of Doe IV suspected nothing untoward.”

The legal petition also alleges that, “in the summer of 1987, when Doe IV was 11 years old, Katinas sexually abused him… Doe IV was confused by this behavior, but thought if a priest was doing it, it must be all right… Doe IV froze during the assault. Finally, he pulled free of Katinas, who said nothing to the boy after he finished with him.”

The legal documents state that, “a few weeks after this traumatic incident, Doe IV told his parents that Katinas had repeatedly ‘bumped’ him from behind. Alarmed, the Father of Doe IV immediately went to the church office at Holy Trinity and asked a secretary there (a middle-aged Greek woman) whom he should speak to about reporting the sexual misconduct of a priest. She gave him a telephone number in New York. When Doe IV’s father called the number, he was connected to the office of the Vicar General for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Reverend Nicholas C. Triantafilou, now President of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, where Katinas once served as president of the alumni association. The Father of Doe IV left a clear message about what he needed to discuss with him. A few days later, Triantafilou called Doe IV’s father, who told him that he was concerned Katinas had sexually assaulted his son. The Vicar General of the Archdiocese replied that an investigation must be conducted for this serious matter, and that the Church had a procedure to follow because of the damage it could do to Father Katinas and to the Church’s reputation. He voiced no concern whatsoever for the victim. He asked to meet with Doe IV’s parents in person. Triantafilou said that they should bring their son also. They agreed. A short time later, John Doe IV and his parents met Triantafilou at a hotel near the Dallas/Fort Worth airport. Understandably, the 11-year-old victim was further traumatized by being interrogated by such an imposing Orthodox official. The Vicar General cautioned them that Katinas had children of his own, and that because he believed Fr. Katinas would never do such a thing, this type of situation would just bring scandal to the church. So Doe IV must be mistaken, he insisted. Triantafillou took notes as they spoke.”

According to the legal papers, “A second meeting occurred a few weeks later when Triantafilou flew from New York again, and this time met with the family in their home in Plano, Texas. He again assured them that their son must have misunderstood Father Nick’s actions; that nothing like this had ever happened before; and that Katinas was a ‘wonderful guy.’ However, Triantafilou said he would investigate further and get back to them. Again, he took notes of the meeting.”

The petition also states, “The Father of Doe IV also met with Father Katinas about what he had done to his son. Katinas tried to quiet him by assuring him that he would never hurt Doe IV, and that his conduct was a simple misunderstanding on the child’s part. Katinas further intended to silence the father by warning him that he no longer could serve as subdeacon at the altar if such a story got out, knowing how important his service in this role was to him in light of his dire circumstances. Then Katinas gave him a loaf of bread for the family. Later, he passed down some clothes for Doe IV.

Katinas well knew how to exploit to his advantage the emotional and desperate financial situation the family was in. Unfortunately, because of Doe IV’s parents’ unquestioning trust in the Orthodox clergy and blind faith in its hierarchy, they believed their lies over the truth of their own child. Together, Katinas and the hierarchy had persuaded them that nothing really inappropriate had happened. Of course, no report was made by anyone to civil authorities. The parents believed so much in their priests that they sent Doe IV back to the altar at least once more to serve with Katinas. Doe IV remembers well the sinister smile his abuser gave him upon his return. The boy was ashamed, believing he would go to hell for telling on God’s representative on earth. Shame silenced him. Although the family continued to go to Holy Trinity to worship, they increasingly felt ostracized by old-guard Katinas supporters. One elderly female parishioner even gave Doe IV the “evil eye” at church. The family felt that the parish, especially the ladies group, was gossiping about the very episode they themselves were not to talk about. They made the family so uncomfortable that they left the church and moved back to Milwaukee in 1988.”

The complaint also alleges that, “sometime in 1988, Fr. Nicholas Triantafilou came to Milwaukee and visited with them. He told the father of John Doe IV that Fr. Katinas was undergoing counseling and expressed sorrow for his son’s ‘misunderstanding’ of Fr. Katinas’ actions. Still later, the Father of Doe IV met with Bishop Iakovos of Chicago, whom he knew personally, to discuss the situation. Adding authority to what others were telling him, Iakovos insisted that Katinas was a good man; that poor Doe IV must have misunderstood and mistaken Fr. Katinas’s actions; and that he was glad the matter had been handled properly so that Katinas’ life and the church’s reputation had not been damaged by scandal. Neither Triantafilou nor Iakovos inquired about his son’s welfare… following the sexual abuse by Katinas and the revictimization by the hierarchy, Doe IV became distracted and distant from his family. As he grew up, he became rebellious and angry. His relationship with his parents was severely damaged as a result of the church’s denial of his accusations. He attempted suicide several times. Then in 2007, his father became aware that a lawsuit had been filed against Katinas and the Greek Orthodox Church by three other boys for sexual abuse, and that another victim from Katinas’ prior assignment had also come forward. Only then did Doe IV realize that he had been one of many Katinas victims, and that the hierarchy had conspired to make him doubt the truth of what had occurred.”

The petition states, “Katinas had previously been assigned by the Chicago Metropolis and GOAA as pastor of Assumption Church in January of 1969. There for several years, beginning in approximately 1970 or 1971 and continuing into 1972 – over a decade prior to his abuse of Doe I, Doe II, Doe III and Doe IV – Katinas sexually abused ‘DZ,’ an altar boy like the Plaintiffs herein, whose family were parishioners. During these abuses, Defendant Katinas told DZ that he likewise had ‘played around’ with other altar boys. Further, in the spring of 1974, Katinas attempted to sexually assault a then 13-year-old parishioner’s son. The boy told his parents immediately following the incident. The mother of the boy even confronted Katinas himself, shortly after the incident. Katinas told her he knew that he was sick, and that he needed help. The family left the church. Katinas remained, although by 1976 or 1977, gossip concerning that particular family apparently continued in the parish community to such an extent that the ladies group withheld Katinas’ Christmas ‘bonus’ to show their disapproval.

“Because the Assumption parish council president had personally observed other suspicious incidents suggestive of pedophilia prior to this time involving Katinas and teenage boys, when news of this assault reached him, he was determined to have Katinas removed as pastor. In his capacity as president, he conferred with the church’s pro-bono attorney about the matter, who already apparently knew all about it. He told the lawyer that Katinas had to leave the parish, and for him to take whatever action was necessary to see that Katinas was reassigned, a prerogative reserved for the Archdiocese, ultimately. Based upon information and belief, another board member, an Archon of the Church who was very influential with the Orthodox hierarchy, his own grandfather having been an Orthodox priest, was dispatched to report the matter and get Katinas out of the parish. At that time, none other than current Metropolitan Isaiah (an acknowledged great good friend of Katinas, according to media reports, and vocal defender of him after his suspension) was the Chancellor of the Chicago Diocese, wherein Assumption Church is located. Further, the same Bishop Iakovos, who would later be involved in supporting Katinas after the John Doe IV incident, was then Bishop of Chicago. When the parish council president met a few weeks later with the attorney, he reported that Katinas’ reassignment was in the works. By September 1978, Katinas was, in fact, reassigned by the GOAA to the Dallas church, Father Nick’s new playground.

“During a telephone conversation with Katinas in 1998, DZ confronted him about his having abused him as a boy. Katinas admitted to the abuse, then asked his victim to pray for him, and to keep silent, repeating that he had also sexually abused other boys and further, that he had confessed his criminal sexual misconduct to Bishop Gerasimos at Holy Cross, and also had met about it with a psychiatrist in Chicago, both before he was transferred to Dallas. Neither Gerasimos nor any other informed official in the GOAA hierarchy bothered to offer counseling to DZ at that time, nor to act responsibly by suspending Katinas.

“Finally, in October 2005, DZ formally reported his abuse to the GOAA through its abuse hotline. An ‘investigation’ was conducted that resulted in Katinas being sent for psychological evaluation and treatment at St. Luke Institute in Suitland, Maryland, a nationally recognized treatment center for pedophile clerics, mostly Catholic, but in this regard psychosexually ecumenical. No one at Holy Trinity has admitted to having been advised of these events, though his absence could hardly have gone unnoticed. Then, in June 2006, Katinas ‘retired’ due to his ‘illness.’ ”

Due to explicit language and graphic situations described in the petition and out of respect and dignity for the victim as a human being made in the image of God, and due to the fact that the alleged predator was a priest, and also out of respect for the Priesthood, details of the abuse are not included here. The entire text has been posted on the National Herald’s website for those who wish to read it in its entirety.