Mother tells court bishop groomed son for monastery from age of 15

A mother has told a court that Limassol Bishop Athanasios and Macheras Abbot Epifanios began drawing her son towards monastic life when he was 15 years old, with new testimony detailing a years-long estrangement that she alleges was driven by the bishop’s influence.

The case, first reported by Phileleftheros last Saturday, centres on allegations that the two clergymen exerted undue influence over a minor....