Limassol votes in first stage of election for bishop

LIMASSOL goes to the polls today in the first step towards the election of a new bishop.

Some 87,000 Limassol residents are entitled to vote in this primary phase to elect 200 electors from 869 representatives of the five candidates.

Today’s election will see the elimination of the three candidates whose representatives fare the worst, while the two front-runners go on into the next round.

In two weeks’ time, the 200 representatives chosen today will vote for a further 50 representatives, of whom 33 must be laymen and 17 clergymen.

In the third and final round a week later, the final 50 representatives will be joined by another 22 members of the clergy to chose the new Bishop of Limassol from among the two remaining candidates. The additional 22 clergymen are drawn from members of the Holy Synod and others chosen according to the Church’s charter.

The elections are taking place following the controversial resignation of former Bishop Chrysanthos.

Chrysanthos was found guilty of improper behaviour by the Holy Synod and resigned in November last year.

He has been implicated in fraud allegations involving millions of pounds both in Cyprus and overseas.

The five candidates standing to replace Chrysanthos are Archimandrite Kyprianos Apseros, Archdeacon Vassilios of Trimithounda, Archimandrite Varnavas of Stavrovouni, Archimandrite Christoforos Tsiakkas of Trooditissa and Abbot Athanasios of Machairas.

The campaign has been marred by repeated sexual allegations by Bishop Chrysostomos of Paphos, widely seen as seeking to discredit the candidacy of Abbot Athanasios.

The allegations were directed at Elder Iosif, an 80-year-old Mount Athos monk associated with Athanasios, whom Chrysostomos accuses of molesting nuns at a convent near Paphos 17 years ago. The Paphos Bishop denies his claims have anything to do with the Limassol election.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.