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New archbishop of Cyprus enthroned
12/11/2006
The Financial Mirror
The new Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus, Chrysostomos II,
was enthroned during a special ceremony Sunday, after the throne was vacated
when his predecessor was declared unfit following a four-year illness.
In his first address as the new leader of the 'autocephalous' or independent
church of Cyprus, Chrysostomos II said that his main concern would be to
upgrade the spiritual work of the church so that it reaches the people in an
understandable language.
The new archbishop declared a number of reforms, ranging from education to
church finances, and policy statements such as the issue of the destruction
of churches by the Turkish occupation army in the north of the island.
He said he intends to enlarge the governing council of the Holy Synod to 14
bishops, which has not been achieved since Frankish rule in the 13th
century.
Referring "to our Turkish Cypriot compatriots" he said that there is nothing
that divides them from the Greek Cypriots.
"We are not bothered by the voice of the muezzin," the Islamic preacher who
prays from a mosque tower every Friday, some 200 metres from the
Archbishopric.
"But we are upset by the Turkish occupation, and the violation of the human
rights of all Cypriots by Turkey", he stressed.
He referred to the destruction of 133 occupied churches in northern Cyprus
and their desecration by Turkey since 1974. Of these, 78 churches, chapels
and monasteries have been converted into mosques, 28 are used as military
depots and hospitals, and 13 are used as stockyards.
"No matter how much this saddens me, I cannot visit those religious sites.
I cannot give any sort of legality to the illegal occupation regime", he
said.
The enthronement took place in the small Cathedral of Saint John, adjacent
to the Archbishopric, in the presence of the nine Cyprus bishops who
comprise the Holy Synod, as well as clerics from Cyprus and abroad,
including archbishops Christodoulos of Athens and Gregorios of Britain who
represented the ecumenical leader of all Orthodoxy, Patriarch Bartholomeus
who sits in Istanbul.
Also present were Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos and all the
island's political leadership, the Greek Minister of Public Order Vyron
Polydoras, representatives of the Armenian Orthodox Church and the Maronite
Catholic Church of the centuries-old Lebanese community in Cyprus, officials
of the Egyptian Coptic and the Anglican churches and the Greek Orthodox
patriarchates from around the world, as well as an official of the Holy See,
represented in Cyprus by the Latin catholic community.
The Archbishop signed the code of acceptance in red ink, one of the three
privileges maintained throughout the centuries by the church of Cyprus, in
addition to holding an imperial scepter from 1869 and a red tunic.
An evening church service was held in honour of the new archbishop who
celebrates his name day on Monday, a holiday for all schools on the island.
On Tuesday, the new archbishop will travel to the monastery at Kykkos in the
Troodos mountains for a special service at the tomb of Archbishop Makarios
III, the first President of Cyprus, who died in 1977 and was replaced by
Archbishop Chrysostomos.
The Church of Cyprus was declared autocephalous in 478 AD when the remains
of its founder, Saint Barnabas, were located on the island, in a tomb
together with a copy of the gospel by Saint Mathew. The church is presently
occupied by Turkey.
12/11/2006
The Financial Mirror
The new Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus, Chrysostomos II,
was enthroned during a special ceremony Sunday, after the throne was vacated
when his predecessor was declared unfit following a four-year illness.
In his first address as the new leader of the 'autocephalous' or independent
church of Cyprus, Chrysostomos II said that his main concern would be to
upgrade the spiritual work of the church so that it reaches the people in an
understandable language.
The new archbishop declared a number of reforms, ranging from education to
church finances, and policy statements such as the issue of the destruction
of churches by the Turkish occupation army in the north of the island.
He said he intends to enlarge the governing council of the Holy Synod to 14
bishops, which has not been achieved since Frankish rule in the 13th
century.
Referring "to our Turkish Cypriot compatriots" he said that there is nothing
that divides them from the Greek Cypriots.
"We are not bothered by the voice of the muezzin," the Islamic preacher who
prays from a mosque tower every Friday, some 200 metres from the
Archbishopric.
"But we are upset by the Turkish occupation, and the violation of the human
rights of all Cypriots by Turkey", he stressed.
He referred to the destruction of 133 occupied churches in northern Cyprus
and their desecration by Turkey since 1974. Of these, 78 churches, chapels
and monasteries have been converted into mosques, 28 are used as military
depots and hospitals, and 13 are used as stockyards.
"No matter how much this saddens me, I cannot visit those religious sites.
I cannot give any sort of legality to the illegal occupation regime", he
said.
The enthronement took place in the small Cathedral of Saint John, adjacent
to the Archbishopric, in the presence of the nine Cyprus bishops who
comprise the Holy Synod, as well as clerics from Cyprus and abroad,
including archbishops Christodoulos of Athens and Gregorios of Britain who
represented the ecumenical leader of all Orthodoxy, Patriarch Bartholomeus
who sits in Istanbul.
Also present were Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos and all the
island's political leadership, the Greek Minister of Public Order Vyron
Polydoras, representatives of the Armenian Orthodox Church and the Maronite
Catholic Church of the centuries-old Lebanese community in Cyprus, officials
of the Egyptian Coptic and the Anglican churches and the Greek Orthodox
patriarchates from around the world, as well as an official of the Holy See,
represented in Cyprus by the Latin catholic community.
The Archbishop signed the code of acceptance in red ink, one of the three
privileges maintained throughout the centuries by the church of Cyprus, in
addition to holding an imperial scepter from 1869 and a red tunic.
An evening church service was held in honour of the new archbishop who
celebrates his name day on Monday, a holiday for all schools on the island.
On Tuesday, the new archbishop will travel to the monastery at Kykkos in the
Troodos mountains for a special service at the tomb of Archbishop Makarios
III, the first President of Cyprus, who died in 1977 and was replaced by
Archbishop Chrysostomos.
The Church of Cyprus was declared autocephalous in 478 AD when the remains
of its founder, Saint Barnabas, were located on the island, in a tomb
together with a copy of the gospel by Saint Mathew. The church is presently
occupied by Turkey.