The cracks in the Ark
Beset by skepticism and suspicion, we Greeks have a habit of blaming each other for everything. We even appear eager to see or imagine evil even in actions that have all the traits to be regarded as benevolent and good. In the case of Ark of the World, when the charity for children and minors was first launched, all of this skepticism was instantly swept aside, the project was embraced almost universally and praise rained down upon it. So yes, we can say that we have been struck dumb by the recent allegations of abuse that threaten to sink the entire ship.
Everyone has been struck dumb: the Church, the state and society; everyone who believed what they needed to believe. That the Ark, which grew gradually from a humble facility in Kolonos into a network of shelters in Kalamata, Volos, Chios and Ioannina, was exactly what it claimed to be: a voluntary, nonprofit organization dedicated to the care and protection of abused or disadvantaged minors. It was this very growth from a small, amateur venture into a large-scale “emotional repository” that should have alerted the supervisory authorities in the Church of Greece and the state.
This is children we’re talking about. Twigs broken off the tree, frightened and rejected. The archdiocese and the relevant ministries should have been more alert. Even if our national ego prevents us from acknowledging the truth of the statement by Luciano Calestini, the first official representative of UNICEF in Greece, who said last March that this is one of the worst countries in the European Union in which to be a child, we all know that it is by no means the best.
Members of the public who supported the Ark with donations, often money they could ill afford, could not have known what Archbishop Ieronymos made public just the other day: that the founder of the Ark, Father Antonios, had refused to put the NGO under the supervision of the Athens Archdiocese or to work with its officials in the areas of social welfare. Had they known this, they may have taken a much different view of Father Antonios’ lofty, and smug, assurances on the organization’s website, that the Ark of the World was “part of God’s plan” and that its work is “blessed by God.” Arrogance is a sin many find hard to forgive.
