A fundraiser was conducted by the Saint Habakkuk Monastery, and when they applied for a second fundraiser, it was rejected.
The proceeds of the fundraiser that took place between May-November 2021 amounted to €85,000.
The fundraiser was for construction work within the monastery.
The Ministry of Interior stipulated that the monastery must submit a building permit, but the Monastery did not do so even after the fundraiser was completed.
It is noted that upon completion of the first fundraiser, the Monastery reapplied for approval for a second fundraiser, but the ministry clarified that it would not consider a new application unless the requested documents were submitted.
The Ministry of Interior sent eight letters to the monastery requesting documents.
Eventually, in 2023, the Monastery provided the documents that had been requested in 2021.
Among the documents provided by the Monastery were receipts for expenses incurred (e.g., to the contractor) but were not examined, something that may be investigated by the police.
One of the questions that require an answer concerns how the €85,000 from the single fundraiser grew to €807,000 found in the safe.
This question may possibly be answered by the monks, although one of the hypotheses given is that they came from contributions to the abbot rather than the Monastery.
However, even if such a thing happened, evidence is expected to be requested regarding the source of these funds, whether they were legal, etc.
Two applications for a fundraiser to support a monastery on Mount Athos were submitted to the Ministry of Interior through the Archbishopric, and a third application for the same monastery was rejected.
However, from a certain point on, the competent committee of the Ministry of Interior stopped considering applications for the support of churches, monasteries, etc., because there were reactions from citizens who complained that money was being requested from their low-income parents.
It is noted that within churches, priests can request donations without being held accountable.
However, for fundraisers outside the church premises, a permit is required.
The Ministry of Interior grants approximately 80 permits annually for fundraisers, and the proceeds amount to approximately €10 million.
In addition to the approximately 80 legal fundraisers, there is the phenomenon of illegal fundraisers.
Illegal fundraisers became more noticeable when strict controls began, resulting in some who did not meet the criteria turning to illegality.
According to the “Law on the Conduct of Fundraisers of 2014,” a “fundraiser” means an appeal to the public or any group of the public, made through letters, announcements, or other documents or writings or by mail, press, telephone, radio, television, email, or the internet, or by visits from house to house or workplace, and/or by explicit or silent appeal, on streets or other public places, to collect, with or without consideration, for any philanthropic, charitable, or religious, environmental and/or animal welfare purpose, as well as for the construction of monuments, money or other assets that are not money, excluding the conduct of fundraisers within religious institutions and/or their precincts.
The legislation does not include related activities coordinated or conducted by the respective appointed Commissioner for Volunteering and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and/or the Pancyprian Coordinating Council of Volunteering.
These activities involve addressing emergency needs, natural disasters, and wartime situations, which are undertaken in consultation with and with the consent of the competent Licensing Authority.
Each such case is notified in summary in the updated list of licenses posted on the website of the Ministry of Interior, in accordance with the provisions of Article 22 of the Law on the Conduct of Fundraisers.
Anyone wishing to organize a fundraiser within the Republic must obtain a fundraising permit from the competent Licensing Authority on a case-by-case basis.
The competent Licensing Authority may, in exceptional cases only, license organized entities for the purpose of conducting fundraisers within the precincts of the churches, subject to obtaining the consent of the competent Ecclesiastical Authority.
