The Greek Orthodox Community of North Australia has distanced itself from a controversial letter sent last week in the form of an email by Gerry Koukouvas, the Public Officer of the Kalymnian Brotherhood Darwin Inc, to the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Michael Gunner. The email sought a response to claims that a “fictitious” COVID-19 outbreak was planned for an Orthodox church in Darwin.

The president of the Greek Orthodox Community of Northern Australia (GOCNA), Nicholas Poniris, said in an open letter addressed to Mr Gunner on Wednesday that his organisation representing the wider Greek community, did not share the views stated in Mr Koukouvas’ letter which had drawn wide media attention.

Mr Poniris wrote that: “GOCNA follows a strict policy of not engaging in political issues, including hearsay or unfounded allegations. In this instance we do believe that GOCNA and the Northern Territory Government (NTG) has been working together to address the misunderstandings and concerns by providing the community with a level of comfort and transparency.

“We feel extremely disappointed by the turn of events. When GOCNA was approached with these baseless allegations, immediate contact was made to you and the Chief Health Officer and was reassured that these allegations were false. This was communicated to Mr Koukouvas prior to the letter being sent. Unfortunately, the assurance provided was not accepted.

“With that said, it is important to note that like GOCNA, the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Nicholas under the direction of our Archbishop Makarios of Australia has stated ‘urge our people to be vaccinated, without compelling anyone, respecting the freedom of every person’.

“Further, the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Nicholas in Darwin has been opened for services following the approved COVID Plan since June 2020. This has been achieved without incident, due to the excellent relationship and collaboration between GOCNA and the Northern Territory Government.

“In the Northern Territory we continue to enjoy the freedom to operate our businesses, work without restrictions, socialise, and attend our places of worship, which is in sharp contrast to the rest of the country.

“GOCNA is keen to discuss next steps on how we can work together and avoid escalating this matter further by the providing with a level of comfort needed to ensure safety,” Mr Poniris’ letter concluded.

READ MORE: Greek community group fears Darwin church is “target” for fictitious COVID outbreak

In the contentious letter to NT’s Chief Minister, Mr Koukouvas had called on Mr Gunner to respond to reports received “through reliable sources” and reassure the community that it was not being targeted or that a lockdown for one or more months was planned by the NT government.

He asked Mr Gunner to respond to claims of “a fictitious Covid-19 outbreak, that will implicate the Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas and its parishioners” was being planned and went to state that “this pre-planned outbreak is said to be scheduled to commence on the 23rd (or 25th) of this month, following positive cases that will be said to have spread in the community, from the attendees of the Divine Liturgy, this Sunday coming (19 September).”

Neos Kosmos contacted two members of the Kalymnian Brotherhood executive who confirmed that the letter had been sent and that Mr Koukouvas, as the public officer would answer all further questions.

Mr Koukouvas said on Tuesday that the organisation had been under pressure to write the letter which reflected the concerns raised by members who were fearful of a prolonged lockdown that would harm business and employment.

“I was getting calls all week to the point where one had to do something or be accused of not caring. We have had a lot of calls from people who are stressed out and the letter was sent as a committee. We are for our community and if they are stressing about something, we have to respond,” Mr Koukouvas said.

The letter he sent to the Chief Minister went to state that: “This ‘so called’ event, will lead to an immediate lockdown, that will last one or two months and will only lax (sic) if the vaccination rates increase, within the Darwin community.”

Wednesday’s “NT News” front-page headlines

The Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas was drawn into a separate anti-vaxing controversy following the media release of a recorded sermon by its parish priest Fr Joel Xanthos in which he is heard to speak out against the use of COVID-19 vaccines.

When Neos Kosmos contacted Fr Xanthos on Wednesday morning, he said that he did not wish to speak to the media.

In a statement sent to Neos Kosmos on Wednesday, the Northern Territory Department of Health stated: “Acting Chief Health Officer Dr Anthony Carpenter today contacted Bishop Silouan from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in South Australia to discuss concerns about the spread of COVID-19 misinformation amongst the Greek Orthodox community in the NT.

“Bishop Silouan confirmed he is aware of the incorrect statements about COVID-19 being shared with the NT Greek Community and is working to engage with community members to provide factual information.”

“NT Health will continue to engage and support the Greek Orthodox community and other multicultural communities in the NT to provide accurate and culturally appropriate information about the COVID-19 vaccine,” Dr Carpenter concluded.

Darwin’s Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis who had been approached by Neos Kosmos about the letter on Tuesday but had declined to comment, told ABC Radio Darwin that he was critical of both the contents of Fr Joel’s recorded sermon and the letter sent to the Chief Minister.

“I’m really disappointed, I’m really angry,” Cr Vatskalis was reported as saying.