‘This is the worst period of time for this’: fire rips through Noarlunga Greek Orthodox Church

The church where its former priest was exposed living a secret double life has seen an Easter Saturday blaze rip through the Southern suburbs church leaving a current priest devastated.

A fire broke out at a Greek Orthodox Church in Christie Downs on Saturday night. Picture: Madeline Morrison/Facebook

A devastated priest has spoken about the damage to his Christie Downs church after a fire ripped through it just weeks from “the most spiritual time of year”.

Father Armandos Manafis has said the Greek Orthodox Parish of St Andrew Noarlunga has been left “upside down” after part of his church was gutted by a fire just weeks before Easter.

Father Manafis said he had left the church at about 7pm on Saturday after he had been preparing for Greek Orthodox Easter, observed on May 5 this year.

About an hour later, 17 firefighters, five appliances and one command vehicle attended the scene and upon arrival saw the entrance point of the church engulfed in flames.

Flames could be seen coming out of the upstairs windows and it took firefighters a total of 20 minutes to contain and extinguish the blaze.

Fire cause investigators attended the scene and have deemed the blaze to be non-suspicious, with a cause yet to be determined.

The destruction happened just months after The Advertiser revealed in an unrelated story in June last year former priest at the same Greek Orthodox parish, Father John Christodoulos, had obtained huge cash donations from a devout elderly parishioner while living a secret double life.

While representing himself as a monastic priest, Father Christodoulos was active on gay app Grindr and meeting other males on the site.

The family of an elderly parishioner recovered more than $1m worth of jewellery from Father Christodoulos after they demanded its return.

Sunday’s service has been undertaken outside of St Andrews Greek Orthodox Church after the building caught fire overnight. Picture: Morgan Sette

Father Manafis said he “put the candles out as normal” before he left the church on Saturday night and rushed to the scene when he was alerted to the incident.

“I jumped in the car and came straight to the church,” he said.

“It’s sad and this is the worst period of time for this as it’s the most spiritual time of the year.”

Father Manafis said he was “shocked” by the destruction of his church.

“It’s a situation you’re not expecting to face,” he said.

“Everything is upside down.”

A fire broke out at a Greek Orthodox Church in Christie Downs. Picture: Madeline Morrison/Facebook

The church was significantly damaged in the blaze. Picture: Facebook/Cynthia Jarrett

But despite the destruction, which Father Manafis said was contained to one section of the building, a service was held on Sunday morning outside the church.

Churchgoers listened to the service on plastic chairs next to the building.

“We can have the service everywhere, the service is the people not the building,” Father Manafis said

“They (parishioners) were crying and there were big emotions.

“There have been parishioners here for more than 30 or 40 years, so it’s like their home.”

Father Manafis said the parishioners would rally around the church with the hope of restoring as much as possible before Easter.

“With God’s blessing and the assistance of the parishioners we will rebuild this church,” he said.

“Thank God it’s not big damage.”

A Metropolitan Fire Service spokeswoman said the damage bill is estimated at $150,000.

The church was not open at the time and there were no reports of injuries.

Sunday service has been undertaken outside of St Andrews Greek Orthodox Church. Picture: Morgan Sette