The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece yesterday asked the government to allow a 16th-century monastery in the Peloponnese to be converted into a jail that would accommodate convicted clerics.

The request was submitted in writing to Education and Religion Minister Evripidis Stylianidis. According to the Holy Synod, a provision in the Church’s charter envisages the creation of a jail specifically for men of the cloth.

The Church’s leadership has its eye on a monastery at Ano Divri, in Ileia prefecture, as a potential Church jail.

The request comes almost one month after the former bishop of Attica, Panteleimon, was sent to Korydallos Prison after being found guilty of embezzling the equivalent of 195,000 euros from a monastery at Nea Makri, northeastern Attica, between 1995 and 1998. Panteleimon was jailed for six years. The case came to light after several nuns at the monastery complained about suspected misappropriation of public donations.