Heavy complaints about the “Ark of the World”: Intervention of Hieronymus – Maximos is meeting tomorrow

by

Former residents complain of violent behavior by workers of the structure, talking about punches and slaps while at the same time locking children in rooms – Emergency meeting tomorrow at 9:30 under the prime minister – Reaction from the Archbishop

The complaints that are coming to the public about what the children experienced in the structures of the “World Ark” are shocking, with the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office investigating three cases of neglect and four cases of beatings in Volos, Chios, Kalamata, Athens and Ioannina. The revelations about what is happening in the “Ark” that has taken the form of an avalanche and the privileged structures will be at the center of the emergency meeting that will be held tomorrow, Monday at Maximos under the Prime Minister at 9.30 in the morning.

The meeting will be held with the participation of the Deputy Minister of Labor Domnas Michailidou and the Secretary General of Social Solidarity Giorgos Stamatis.

The aim is to examine the framework and steps that need to be taken to ensure the protection of children while the judicial investigation of allegations against the structure lasts.

“They locked us in houses and warehouses”

At the same time, shocking are the testimonies of former food workers that come to the public and which “burn” even a member of the structure. Former inmates report not only incidents of violence that took place but also acts of indiscipline. In particular, they report violent behavior by employees of the structure, talking about punches and slaps while at the same time, as they describe, children were locked in rooms, in houses of the organization for punishment who only went out to do work for the structure. At the same time, young children aged 11 and 12 were forced to wash the dishes, write punishments for talking in the dining room, while at the same time, the employees kept their pocket money.

At the same time, a new testimony came to light from an 18-year-old youth who lived in the institution’s structures in Ioannina and Volos. The young man complains that when he was 13 years old and living in the Pogoniani structure, for an insignificant reason one of the aforementioned “Kivotos” workers who had the role of “pedonomists” attacked him.

This man had also physically abused three other children in the same structure, in which the conditions, infrastructure and staff were otherwise impeccable.

At the same time, according to the 18-year-old’s complaint, the same worker is allegedly involved in the case of the Volos beatings.

“It was violence, in other words they were beaten badly. One child in particular was 17 years old, he was beaten, his eye was swollen, his ear was bleeding. They didn’t even bother. They came out and I said that he had a nightmare at night, because they entered his room at 12 o’clock and beat him at midnight. One was holding his mouth and the other was hitting him,” says an 18-year-old former guest at Kivoto.

“These two grew up in the Ark and were in the Ark for years and were next to the father. He had beaten me in particular, to admit that I smoked. We were in the warehouse then, he had locked the door and hit me, two or three cuffs” adds the 18-year-old.

Intervention by Hieronymus

The revelations about the “Ark” provoked the reaction of His Beatitude the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Mr. Ieronymos, who pointed out in his statement that yesterday afternoon he ordered “the carrying out of normal investigations, following named complaints before the competent authorities, at the expense of the clergy of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens Fr. Antonio Papanikolaou, to whom I imposed, by my decision, the prohibition of sacrificial acts until the case is adjudicated.

“As a Church, we are at the disposal of the authorities, in order to contribute, in any way, to the complete clarification of this nightmarish case,” he points out.

“The Holy Archdiocese of Athens had or has no relationship with the M.K.O. “Ark of the World”, which does not belong to it. The only person responsible for its administration, management and entire operation is the aforementioned cleric, who never agreed to set up the structures of the M.K.O. under the supervision of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens or to cooperate with its staff members in the fields of social welfare and solidarity in any way” he clarifies, among other things.

Kivotos insists on false slander

For its part, the Ark of the World insists in a post on Facebook that it is talking about slander: “We want to state in the most categorical way that the complaints that have seen the light of day and are hosted in a Sunday newspaper are completely false and slanderous” .

“We want to state in the most categorical way that the complaints that have seen the light of day and are hosted in a Sunday newspaper are completely false and slanderous” is stated in a statement from “Kivotos”.

You May Also Like

Recommended for you