Protopresbyter Jovan Marjanac, until recently the secretary of the Serbian Orthodox Church’s Diocese of Canada, has been defrocked by a decision of the Church Court due to proven suspicions that he committed multiple financial abuses, including payments based on falsified and personal invoices, Serbian Times has learned from sources close to the Diocese.
This is the epilogue of a scandal that came to light in early February and shook the church public and the large Serbian community in Canada, which our portal has already written about in a text HERE!
The now former priest Jovan Marjanac found himself at the center of an investigation which, as we learn, revealed that the disputed payments were carried out through the diocesan treasurer, and that Bishop Mitrofan was excluded from official electronic communication, which prevented him from having insight into financial flows and events in the Diocese of Canada.
– During the hearing before the commission, which was formed prior to the initiation of the Church Court proceedings, Marjanac changed his statements several times regarding the amount of damage caused. He first admitted that he damaged the Diocese by $50,000, then $120,000, only to finally increase the amount to $165,000. Although he remained at that figure, there are well-founded suspicions within the church that the actual damage could be significantly higher and represents only a part of the total irregularities, says our source close to the Diocese.
Let us recall, according to information obtained by Serbian Times, the actual damage is estimated at between 250,000 and 300,000 Canadian dollars. After the conducted proceedings, the Church Court made a decision to defrock Jovan Marjanac. He has been informed of that decision, but in the meantime he has taken sick leave, which allows him to continue receiving a salary for a limited period (three months) even after the measure has been imposed.
– Throughout the entire process, Marjanac tried to gain the support of the faithful, presenting the disputed funds as a loan or debt to the Diocese, allegedly related to the construction of his private property. However, his lifestyle – including luxury property and expensive vehicles, one of which he purchased recently – further fueled suspicions and pointed to a discrepancy between income and expenses, our source emphasizes.
He adds that Marjanac used the previous period to shift blame and pressure onto the newly appointed secretaries of the Diocesan Council and the Diocesan Administrative Board, Deacon Petar Marjanović and Nun Paraskeva, who became targets of criticism and attacks by believers close to Marjanac.
– The investigation continues, and it is believed that its further course will bring a more complete picture and the real scale of the damage caused by Marjanac, who for more than a decade was practically the second man of the Diocese, immediately after Bishop Mitrofan, our interlocutor concludes.
Early works – covered-up theft of money from the altar!
Incidentally, this is not the first case of, to put it mildly, inappropriate behavior by Jovan Marjanac. Namely, in 2019 he was caught stealing money from believers from the altar of the Church of the Assembly of All Serbian Saints in Mississauga near Toronto, which Serbian Times has already written about (SEE LINK BELOW).
Cameras, namely, in September of that year caught priest Jovan Marjanac taking money from the altar, but to the surprise and disbelief of the Serbian church community in Canada, he remained in the position of secretary of the Canadian Diocese even after the incident.
– The entire case was covered up, and the priests who reported and recorded him were punished by being transferred to other parishes. He was also transferred at that time to another parish in nearby Kitchener, but Bishop Mitrofan practically did him a favor, because Marjanac was moved closer to his large estate, says our second source close to the Diocese, adding:
– Marjanac was never prosecuted for the theft, he managed to remove the video that was posted on Facebook from the internet, and he continued to take revenge on the priests who exposed him by using his position as secretary, so that one of them was soon retired, while the other had to continue his service in another Diocese and in another country, in America.
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Source: Antonije Kovačević Foto: Printscreen Youtube – Nenad Toronto, Facebook