GREECE: A group of Greek nuns abandoned their convent and went into hiding after running up debts of more than €600,000 from a knitting business that went bust, authorities said yesterday.
The 55 sisters of the Saints Kirikos and Ioulitis monastery in the town of Sidirokastro, near the border with Bulgaria, had bought machinery worth €250,000 with bank loans some years ago, a police official said.
But despite supplying several shops, they were running deeper and deeper into debt and risking bankruptcy. Eventually the business fell apart at the seams.
"We have not been asked to intervene yet, but we are following the case closely," a police spokesman said. The nuns are believed to have taken refuge at another monastery in central Greece. The Greek press has reported that the Church of Greece has offered to help them pay their debts and come out of hiding. A church representative was not available for comment.