Greek Police Probe Reports of Cult

The Associated Press/February 11, 1999
By Elena Becatoros

RAFINA, Greece (AP) -- Greek security officials are investigating reports that members of an American doomsday cult are living near a seaside town, police sources said Thursday.

The investigation into the Concerned Christians is centered around Rafina, about 15 miles west of Athens. Greek media reported that followers may have rented an apartment and villas in the nearby hillside community of Neo Voutza.

Authorities have ordered surveillance of the two sites and have worked with immigration officials to try to determine if members of the Denver-based group could be in Greece, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Attempts by The Associated Press to reach anyone residing at the addresses were unsuccessful.

Israel last month deported 14 members of the cult for allegedly plotting attacks at holy sites in Jerusalem in an attempt to hasten the return of Christ. At the time, some members said other followers were living in Greece.

Mark Roggeman, a Denver police officer who tracks cults in his spare time, said last week as many as 20 Concerned Christians were in Greece.

U.S. Embassy officials in Athens could not confirm the presence of the cult members in Greece.

The cult members denied any wrongdoing in Israel and no charges were filed. But Israeli officials are worried about possible attacks and disruptions from religious-oriented groups drawn to the Holy Land for the millennium.

Greece could also attract groups anticipating the end of the world. Biblical tradition says the book of Revelation was dictated by St. John the Divine on the Aegean island of Patmos sometime after 95 A.D. The book of Revelation includes accounts of a fiery destruction of the world and heaven-directed vengeance upon sinners.

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