THE PAPHOS Bishop’s antipathy for his Limassol counterpart is creating a serious rift within the Cyprus Orthodox Church.
Bishop Chrysostomos of Paphos has not presided at a service alongside Bishop Athanasios of Limassol since the latter was enthroned almost a year ago.
Things came to a head on Sunday, when Bishop Chrysostomos stayed away from a service to mark the Feast of Orthodoxy at the Ayion Panton church in Dherynia. The special service was meant to be presided over by all the members of the Holy Synod.
Archbishop Chrysostomos did not mince his words in commenting after the service. He said a Bishop’s refusal to share the communion cup with a fellow-Bishop was "to some degree a schism."
Bishop Chrysostomos of Kition weighed in with an unbridled attack on his Paphos namesake: "Even primary school children know that such behaviour is irregular and risks excommunication," he said.
Bishop Chrysostomos of Paphos hit back by commenting on his Kition counterpart that "people in glass houses should not throw stones."
Yesterday, the Bishop of Paphos seemed to be doing his best to keep a lid on things, denying there was any schism and insisting his absence on Sunday had been for "personal" reasons.
Church observers appeared divided on the issue, but the local media was unanimous in its diagnosis of the situation: Sunday was the outward manifestation of a "civil war" or "minor schism" within the Synod.
The Paphos Bishop first made his dislike for Athanasios plain in the run-up to last year’s elections for Limassol Bishop, which Athanasios eventually won. In an apparent attempt to scupper Athanasios’ credentials, the Paphos Bishop claimed Athanasios’ octogenarian mentor had been guilty of molesting nuns.
The Paphos Bishop yesterday insisted his no-show on Sunday was simply not a matter for the public or the media to concern itself with.
"I have my opinions but they are seriously personal, they do not concern anyone else but me and the Synod," the bishop said.
The reasons for his absence on Sunday were "strictly personal" and did "not necessarily" have anything to do with Athanasios, he said.
"There is no schism in the Church… the Church is not a dictatorship, my not going to the service on Sunday is not the end of the world."
The Bishop said he was "at one" with the whole Church every time he presided over a service and accused the media of blowing things out of all proportion.
He took another pot shot at the Kition Bishop, saying his colleague had been given short shrift by the Synod when he had raised the issue of the Paphos Bishop’s absence from previous Church functions attended by Athanasios.
"The Bishop of Kition tabled the issue of my absence at the two last meetings of the Synod and got the answer from the Synod that it did not constitute a schism and a Synod member could be away," the Paphos Bishop said.
Theologian Theodoros Kyriacou commented that the Paphos Bishop’s absence was indeed a Church "schism." He said he was surprised at the Paphos Bishop’s comment that the matter did not concern the public.
Kyriacou said the Synod had a duty to call on the Paphos and Limassol bishops to lay aside their differences and "punish" them if they did not.
Athanasios has never been drawn into making any comment in reply to any of the Paphos Bishop’s attacks.
Another Church expert, Costis Kyriakides, said talk of a "schism" was premature but admitted the situation could develop into such if left unchecked.
Kyriakides preferred to call the situation a "family spat" and suggested the Paphos Bishop’s actions were a reaction to the fact that he was no longer the Archbishop’s favourite.
Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou refused to comment on the spat yesterday but made a plea for "harmony" within the Church.
The local Orthodox Church’s image has in recent years been tarnished by a number of "scandals" and bouts of public squabbling. Not least among these was the charging of Athanasios’ predecessor, Chrysanthos, on suspicion of involvement in multi-million pound financial scams. The disgraced former Bishop is currently on trial on fraud charges.
Recent opinion polls suggest the public perceive the Church as being in crisis.
