Greek migrant’s body remains unburied four months due to bureaucracy

“They won’t let me bury my father in the Greek-Orthodox tradition,” says Tom Angelopoulos’ son in dismay

Angelo Angelopoulos with his late father Tom, whose body is still waiting to buried, four months after his demise.

Theodora Maios
31 October 2018 2:25pm

It has been four months since Anastasios (Tom) Angelopoulos’ demise at 93 years of age, but his funeral is still pending, due to what appears to be an intransigent bureaucracy.

The Greek migrant’s body remains in the Townsville hospital’s mortuary, says his son, Angelo Angelopoulos.

Following the death of his father, the 60-year-old applied to the Coroner, under the Burial Assistance Scheme, seeking assistance from the Government, as he was not in a financial position to cover the funeral costs.

“Due to ﬁnancial hardship, I applied to the Queensland Government’s Burial Assistance Scheme and was granted funeral assistance on the condition that I forego a private viewing and a church service,” says Mr Angelopoulos, who then proceeded to provide evidence to the Government that it is a requirement under Canon Law in the Eastern Orthodox religion to hold a church service prior to a burial service.

Despite there being no additional cost to the State for a church service, apart from the cost of conveying the deceased to and from the church, the Coroner’s office has declined Mr Angelopoulos’ application.

“The Government has refused to accommodate this requirement of the Greek Orthodox religion, even after providing them with a letter from Rev. Fr. Alexios Kapandritis from the Greek Orthodox Parish-Community of Saints Theodore, Townsville, in which he confirms that the Parish has offered to perform the service free of charge at their church.”

Mr Angelopoulos, a law student, told Neos Kosmos that he alleges that the Queensland Government is engaging in religious discrimination and is in breach of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld).

Last Thursday, Mr Angelopoulos’ Human Rights and Civil Rights lawyer, Klaire Coles, lodged a complaint with the Anti-Discrimination Commission Queensland (ADCQ).

“I am deeply saddened that after so many years of hard work, this is how my father is being treated. To me, this is a form of religious discrimination and shows a lack of respect towards the elderly,” says Angelo.

“My parents came to Australia with nothing but a suitcase. Like most migrants, they worked extremely hard and helped build Australia.”

Born and bred in Athens, Tom Angelopoulos migrated to Australia with his wife Lygeri in 1957.

The couple initially settled in Sydney where Tom worked as a quality control supervisor at BHP Billiton. He left his job a few years later to establish the Greek school Proodus.

“My father was well-known for his contribution and involvement in the Greek community, particularly the Greek Orthodox churches at Innisfail and Home Hill in North Queensland, where we settled in the 90’s after the country went into recession and we ended up losing everything,” says Angelo Angelopoulos.

This is not the first time Angelo Angelopoulos faced a distressing incident of this nature. Two years his mother Lygeri was laid to rest in the wrong plot at the Belgian Gardens Cemetery.

“My mother was buried in Plot 66D in the Greek Orthodox section of the city’s main cemetery on March 4, 2016, however, she should have been buried three rows away in Plot 106C, also in the Greek Orthodox section,” he says.

Both he and his father at the time had to undergo grief counselling related to stress caused by the mix-up.

“I was raised to love and respect the elderly, but I have had two really bad experiences with both my parents and one of the main reasons I decided to share my story is to encourage others to be vigilant.

“I am disappointed and distraught, but I won’t stop until I manage to bury my father the way he would have wished to be buried, so that he can finally be put to rest.”