Nikodim Tsarknias

Who is Nikodim Tsarknias?

Nikodim Tsarknias is an ethnic Macedonian Orthodox Christian monk and self-declared Archimandrite who originates from the Greek region of Macedonia. In 1973 he was an ordained as a member of the Greek Orthodox Church, 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 diocese's bishop, 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 Slavo-Macedonian identity and communicating with parishioners in the Macedonian language he was dismissed from his ecclesiastical post in the diocese of Florina; the Church of Greece argues, however, that Tsarknias declared his Slavo-Macedonian identity only after the accusations for ethical and sexual misconduct.