Police are continuing their investigation into the serious incident at Agios Neophytos Monastery in Paphos, after a court ordered the six-day detention of a monk suspected of injuring the monastery’s maintenance technician and another monk with a sharp object.
Investigators are taking statements from people close to the 51-year-old monk and others connected with the monastery. As the investigation continues, more details are emerging about the background to Friday’s incident, including claims that the monk had repeatedly refused to follow instructions in recent years.
According to information obtained by Phileleftheros, the monk had lived at Agios Neophytos Monastery for many years and had maintained good relations with the abbot and the other monks until about four years ago.
Sources said that from around that time, the monk allegedly began refusing to follow the abbot’s instructions, with relations between the two eventually reaching breaking point.
People familiar with the situation told Phileleftheros there had been several occasions when the monk did not follow the monastery’s schedule or that of the other monks.
His alleged disobedience is said to have been the main factor behind the deterioration in relations and appears to have been the basis for the abbot’s decision several months ago to suspend the 51-year-old from his clerical duties.
While suspended, he did not take part in Divine Liturgy or other church services or sacraments, although he continued to live at the monastery.
He was also using two cells, one of which had previously been occupied by his father. His father, who was from Romania, had lived at the monastery as a layman and received assistance from the monastery until his death following an illness.
Phileleftheros also understands that the arrested man was not only a monk but also a deacon.
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