Ind. Cath. Priest Is Missing in Greece for a Week; Told His Family His Translator Feared Her Family

The family of Indiana Catholic priest Fr. Christiaan Kappes -- who has been missing in Greece for the past seven days -- is very concerned about his disappearance, the Catholic News Agency website reports today (October 7, 2012).

"We are praying for the well-being of Father Kappes and his family and for Father Kappes' safe return to the United States," the Archdiocese of Indianapolis said.

The 37-year-old priest -- a native of Indiana -- had been engaged in doctoral studies in Athens for the past three years on Greek Orthodox Christian theology at the request of the Vatican.

The priest's family members said that Fr. Kappes had informed them that Ioanna Lekakou -- his translator and close friend -- was involved in a major dispute over her family's inheritance. Fr. Kappes warned his family -- a day before his disappearance -- that someone had threatened to kill Lekakou and that he believed he too had become a target.

Fr. Kappes was participating in a pilot program set up between the Vatican and the Greek government to study Greek Orthodox theology in hopes of overcoming the divisions between the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. The Christian Church split apart into Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox divisions in the year 1054 in what is known historically as the Great Schism.