How to remove the “miracle”? How can you prove that the fact that the cripple walked or the patient recovered was not due to the “miraculous” properties of the Cross, but, for example, from a medicine, from an operation, or even from an accident? The “detachment” of the priest Demetrius Lupasakis, for whose “miracles” often line up thick lines at St. Isidore of Lycabettus (even the Greeks from Australia went for his blessing), was one of the most difficult missions for the group Hellenic Hoaxes (member of the International Fact Checker Network IFCN). Their first relevant investigation dates back to June 2018, when reports of “miracles” began to circulate at the Holy Church of St. Paraskeva Lagada, where the “miracle worker” Timios Stavros arrived from St. Isidore of Lycabettus. “She got to her feet by the grace of the Holy Cross!” “A paraplegic boy walked without crutches” were some of the “news” that shocked believers at the time.

Among these reports was the story of a man who, allegedly paralyzed, left his crutches behind and walked normally. Thodoris Daniilidis of Ellinika Hoaxes (EH) was found at IN Agia Paraskevi Lagada where he identified a specific individual. He was a Bulgarian who, according to testimonies, collected alms outside the temples. Danielides spoke to him with the help of an interpreter. “At the beginning, he insisted that he did not walk without crutches, and was “miraculously” cured by the priest Dimitrios Loupasakis. But when we told him that several residents of the district saw how he walked normally until the “miracle”, he admitted that “without crutches he walked for a maximum of an hour,” he writes himself (the dialogue was recorded on video). As it turned out as a result of the investigation, the story of the crippled boy who walked was also not entirely true. In fact, the child was not disabled or paraplegic, he just had a foot operation a few days ago, as his mother explained.

In social networks

Already in 2018, the press service of the Archdiocese informed E.Kh. that complaints are being investigated. However, the longer its completion was delayed, the more the audience of the “miracle-working” priest expanded, both in the holy temple and online. At least 6,000 likes and a corresponding number of comments collect posts on St. Isidore’s Facebook page, from where the services are broadcast live. “Videos” of alleged miracles by Timios Stavros, such as a man sitting in a wheelchair getting up after being “blessed” by priest Dimitrios Loupasakis, are gaining thousands of reposts and millions of views. A believer saw such a “video” and decided to install it near the Holy Church of St. Isidore Lycabettus from 2 am a few days ago, on the Day of the Cross, as he stated on the ERT camera. Last April, Ellinika Hoaxes returned to the subject by tracking down the man in the video in question. This is Stavros V., aged 42, permanently residing in Ptolemais. According to him, he has been suffering from multiple sclerosis for eight years. “I’m not disabled, as rumor has it. I have mobility issues in one of my two lower limbs and use a cane for short distances. I have a stroller for older children. I have a deep faith in God and I thought about going to the priest Dimitrios Loupasakis in Agios Isidoros to help me with the miraculous Holy Cross. (…) After the blessing of the priest, I got up with difficulty. But then I walked with more ease than before, and it is true that the priest encouraged me. But by no means can I say that I have recovered. RS didn’t leave.