A last-minute mystery donation of around $2 million has saved the Holy Trinity, one of the Midwest’s oldest Greek Orthodox churches, from the auction block.
The donation came in on Friday, just hours before the church in the Belmont Central neighborhood was set to go to auction.
Parishioners at Holy Trinity have been fighting to save the church since learning it was saddled with $8 million in debt.
It’s not clear exactly how much money was put forward, but it’s around $2 million. The presiding priest said that’s more than enough to delay the auction and allow the church to file for bankruptcy.
That will buy the church some time, so they can sell a shuttered school they own in north suburban Deerfield.
According to CBS News, Father Nicholas Jonas said it was literally an 11th hour surprise.
“We prayed for a miracle to happen, and we didn’t give up,” Jonas said. “Late last night a group of guardian angels came forward.”
Source: usa.greekreporter.com