Nikodim Tsarknias (, , born 1942 in
Aridaia
Aridaía (, , ) is a town and a former Municipalities and communities of Greece, municipality in the Pella (regional unit), Pella regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the Almopia municipality, of which ...
) is a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
Macedonian Orthodox Christian monk
A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...
and
Archimandrite
The title archimandrite (; ), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot ('' hegumenos'', , present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") whom a bishop appointed to supervise several "ordinary" abbots and monaste ...
. In 1973 he was an ordained as a member of the
Church of Greece
The Church of Greece (, ), part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Its canonical territory is confined to the borders of Greece prior to th ...
, but was expelled for misconduct in 1991.
The reasons for his expulsion are disputed. The Church of Greece accused him of serious ethical misconduct, and after a decision of the Holy Synod he was brought to
ecclesiastical justice. He was found guilty by both the first-instance court and the ecclesiastical court of appeals,
and he was then dismissed on March 11, 1992.
According to Tsarknias and ethnic Macedonian sources, when he was a personal secretary to the
Florina
Florina (, ''Flórina''; known also by some alternative names) is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'.
The town of Florina is the capital of the Florina regional uni ...
diocese
In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...
's
bishop
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
, he opposed what he saw as an attempt by the Bishop to eradicate ethnic Macedonian religious customs. It is argued that, in 1991, after declaring his Macedonian identity and communicating with parishioners in
Macedonian
Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia.
Macedonian(s) may refer to:
People Modern
* Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Macedonia
* Mac ...
he was dismissed from his