New Yorker Magdalena Max Avramovich claims she was forced out of her rent-stabilized apartment in a church-owned complex in Manhattan after a priest allegedly used information against her that she revealed during a confessional, while in the throes of a psychotic episode, according to court documents.
Avramovich, who is schizophrenic, recently filed a civil complaint against the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava, The Independent reported.
According to the ex-tenant, she had lived for nearly three decades in the same apartment, where she paid $1,540 a month in rent.
Avramovich’s court documents state that she had successfully managed her illness until a medication change impacted her symptoms and culminated in a crisis in February 2026.
“My psychosis concocted paranoia stories surrounding my family, and the need to remove myself from my apartment and leave the country in some nonsensical attempt at helping them,” Avramovich, 56, says in the docs, per the outlet, admitting that she had quit her job, given away most of her belongings and booked a trip to Serbia, where many of her loved ones reside.
Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava
Avramovich claims she reached out to the church’s Father Zivojin Jakovljevic, “seeking confession and a prayer.”
She says on Feb. 10, “he formally took my confession, wherein I sobbed uncontrollably about my perceived situation and my paranoid thoughts.
“Father Zivojin appeared to console me. The very next day, however, he asked for my permission to share that sensitive information with [the church] board, my landlord.”
She adds, “Inadvisedly, I assented.”
The filing states on Feb. 14, the church secretary emailed Avramovich a “surrender agreement” to give up the apartment within five days, which she signed, per the report.
Abramovich’s attorney calls the move “unconscionable,” “unethical” and “unlawful.”
Abramovich, who maintains she has restarted medication for her “mental health and stability,” is seeking to retain her longtime home, arguing that her mind was “so affected” by her psychosis that she was “incompetent to sign” the agreement.
St. Sava Cathedral has released a statement on its website saying it “categorically denies the allegations asserted against it and has retained counsel to defend itself through the legal process. We will not comment on specific allegations while this matter is pending in court.”
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