The head of Greece's powerful Orthodox Church has rejected growing calls for him to step down, but said two of his close aides had been suspended amid mounting scandals.
"An archbishop does not resign," Archbishop Christodoulos, 66, told reporters after two senior bishops and the head of a parish priests' association said he should quit.
The calls resulted from revelations that the archbishop was acquainted with lower-ranking clergy directly implicated in trial-fixing and other major corruption allegations.
"Of course I have heard those calls. I weighed them and I rejected them straight away because I am not part of the problem," Christodoulos told Alpha television.
Christodoulos said Metropolitan Theoklitos of Thessaly, a close ally, had resigned and the church's spokesman was suspended.
The Orthodox Church, the official state religion, has been stunned by daily allegations of embezzlement, corruption and sexual escapades.
One senior bishop has been suspended for six months and two lower-ranking priests have been arrested and taken into custody while police seek a fugitive drug-trafficking suspect who is a central figure in the church scandals.
Greek church elders have approved sweeping measures to increase financial transparency.
The governing Holy Synod easily defeated a no-confidence motion against Christodoulos. Greece's conservative government has distanced itself from Christodoulos but has not supported calls for him to quit.
A newspaper poll showed Christodoulos' popularity plummeted from 65.5 percent in May 2004 to 41.7 percent as of last week.