BOSTON – Immediately after the story broke that the 121-year-old historic Holy Trinity Church of Chicago received a judgment of foreclosure by the MB Financial Bank, that same parish filed a lawsuit against Mr. Jim Logothetis, former president of the parish and chairman of the school committee.
The National Herald located Mr. Logothetis in Europe on business trip and requested to provide his side of the story. He sent us a written statement with the request not to publish his photograph or his biographical data. His statement is as follows:
“Statement to The National Herald by Jim Logothetis
My family and I are saddened that the Holy Trinity parish that I served for over 35 years is facing the loss of the church property in Chicago. Many of us realized years ago that due to changing demographics and declines in church attendance and the size of the congregation, the current location in Chicago was not sustainable for the long term. That is why we proposed to move the parish to a new location in the suburbs and extend the life of this historic institution.
The actions that were taken by Holy Trinity, starting back in 2004 with the purchase of the Deerfield property, the transfer of the Socrates School to Deerfield in 2006, and the plans to move Holy Trinity to Deerfield as well, were all undertaken pursuant to a carefully thought-out plan to further the mission of Holy Trinity. Every step of the way, the relevant decisions were approved by the parish council and the general assembly under the leadership of Father George Kaloudis, and the Metropolis. But ultimately, Father Kaloudis decided that he did not want to move Holy Trinity to Deerfield, and an opportunity was lost.
I have not served on the Holy Trinity parish council over the last five years and I was not part of the decisions made, including the reversal of course regarding the transition, that have led to further declines in membership and revenue. It is sad that at the general assembly meeting this past Sunday, even given the most urgent agenda of the possible takeover by the bank, fewer than forty members showed up.
But the act of some, who are apparently now making decisions for Holy Trinity, to file a frivolous lawsuit against me, seeking a scapegoat and a perceived “deep pocket” insurance policy, is simply outrageous. The trumped up theory of the suit is that I had a “conflict of interest” because I was the head of the parish council and also the head of the Academy that acquired the Socrates School and moved it to Deerfield. But there was no conflict of interest. The goals of Holy Trinity and the Academy were the same, as reflected in the Joint Resolution that governed the transfer of the Socrates School to the Academy. Indeed, Father George Kaloudis agreed to have his son Gus Kaloudis, a lawyer, represent both Holy Trinity and the Academy in the various transactions (all fully approved at all levels) associated with the move – which Gus could have not have done had there been a conflict of interest between Holy Trinity and the Academy.
For more than 35 years, I freely gave of my time and money to serve Holy Trinity, contributing thousands of hours and donating or raising millions of dollars. I did so without complaint and without ever taking a dime. It is beyond sad for me personally to be the subject of an ill considered and groundless lawsuit filed by the church I loved and served. I hope that under the leadership of our new Metropolitan Nathanael, the parish will withdraw this frivolous suit and focus on a constructive plan for moving forward to serve the congregation. But if the suit is not withdrawn, I will defend the suit vigorously in court and I expect to prevail and to obtain sanctions because the suit is without any legal merit. I will do what I need to do to defend my reputation and protect my family, for whom the church has been the center of our lives, from baseless attacks.”
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