NEW YORK — In a stunning legal battle that intersects the sacred sanctity of religious confession with the ruthless realities of Manhattan real estate, a local church and its parish priest are facing a scathing lawsuit. The suit alleges the cleric weaponized the confidential, psychosis-induced confessions of a vulnerable parishioner to strip her of her rent-stabilized apartment of nearly 30 years.
Magdalena Max Avramovich, 56, has filed a lawsuit in New York Supreme Court against Father Milan Jakovljevic and the St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church in Manhattan. According to court documents, Avramovich claims the church used her severe mental health crisis to coerce her into surrendering her long-term home, where she paid a heavily discounted rent of just $1,540 a month.
A Confidential Crisis Weaponized
Avramovich, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia following an acute psychotic episode in 2004, had successfully managed her condition for over two decades with the help of prescribed antipsychotic medication. However, court papers state that she experienced a severe relapse in early February, plunging her into a state of active psychosis.
Seeking spiritual solace and guidance during her mental health crisis, Avramovich sought out Father Jakovljevic for the holy sacrament of confession. Tearful and severely detached from reality, she bared her struggles to the priest.
Instead of keeping the confession strictly confidential, Jakovljevic allegedly approached Avramovich the following day, asking for permission to share the “sensitive information” regarding her mental health with the church’s board of trustees. Crucially, the church board also functions as Avramovich’s landlord.
While it remains unclear whether a lucid consent was ever granted, the lawsuit emphasizes that the Eastern Orthodox Church holds the sacramental seal of confession as absolute. Under traditional canon law, any priest who breaches this seal faces the ultimate spiritual penalty of excommunication.
Coerced Into Displacement
The timeline detailed in the affidavit suggests swift action by the landlord-church after the disclosure. On February 14, just days after the confession, a church secretary emailed a formal “surrender agreement” to Avramovich. In the throes of unmedicated psychosis and lacking the legal capacity to understand the document, Avramovich signed away her tenancy.
Disoriented and unstable, she subsequently fled the United States for Serbia, where she spent a month under the care of her family. As the psychotic episode subsided and she regained lucidity, Avramovich realized the gravity of what had occurred.
Returning to New York in April, she stabilized her health with her required medication and secured temporary housing before seeking legal recourse.
The Legal Battle Ahead
The lawsuit centers on the argument that Avramovich lacked the requisite contractual and mental capacity to legally sign away her home of 28 years. The filing places direct blame on Father Jakovljevic for exploiting a parishioner in a profoundly vulnerable state to reclaim a highly coveted, rent-stabilized Manhattan property for the church’s real estate portfolio.
Legal experts note that rent-stabilized apartments in New York City are fiercely protected by state law, making formal evictions incredibly difficult for landlords without rigorous legal justification. Utilizing a tenant’s confidential spiritual counsel to bypass these protections marks a highly unusual and ethically fraught escalation in tenant-landlord disputes.
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Representatives for the St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church and Father Jakovljevic have not yet publicly responded to the allegations detailed in the lawsuit.
