The assault, during a hearing about defrocking the priest, injured 11 people, including seven bishops.
A 37-year-old Greek priest was to face a prosecutor on Thursday over an acid attack during a disciplinary hearing at an Athens monastery. Seven bishops were injured, as were a police officer, two lawyers and a secretary. The attack took place at the Petraki Monastery, the de facto headquarters of Greece’s Orthodox Church, where clerics had gathered to rule on whether the priest should be defrocked over accusations of a drug offense dating to 2018, according to local media reports. The priest was arrested at the scene. On Wednesday evening, as the church tribunal announced its decision to reject his appeal against his defrocking, the suspect, who has not been named by the police, pulled out a bottle from his bag and started splashing liquid from it across the room at the clerics, according to witnesses. Bishop Kallinikos of Arta, who suffered skin and eye injuries, told Greek television that he initially thought the suspect had planned a symbolic protest.
