BISHOP Athanassios of Limassol yesterday appeared before a Church inquiry tasked with getting to the bottom of homosexuality allegations against him.
The embattled Bishop – who denies the lurid claims – was presented with a list of accusations based on the testimonies of six persons who appeared before an earlier Church investigation.
Five of these witnesses are being charged by police with conspiring to defame the Limassol Bishop. The three-Bishop committee of inquiry — meeting at the Archbishopric in Nicosia – gave Athanasios a few days in which to prepare his reply to the allegations.
The claims have been rocking the Church and grabbing headlines for months now. Reporters’ determination to get as close as possible to the action led to minor scuffles with police and guards outside the Archbishopric yesterday morning.
The guards refused to let the television crews into the grounds of the Archbishopric to await the emergence of the inquisitors. When the reporters persisted, the guards called police, who in turn called in the rapid reaction squad (MMAD) to diffuse the situation.
Things only calmed down when Archbishop Chrysostomos sent word that the television crews were to be allowed to take up their customary post within the grounds. Coming out of the session at around 1pm, two of the Bishops making up the inquiry committee gave different versions of how long Athanassios had to prepare his reply.
Bishop Neophytos of Morphou said his Limassol colleague had “till the beginning of next week”, while Bishop Pavlos of Kyrenia said Athanassios had “two days” in which to respond. Neophytos suggested the Holy Synod ought to convene to consider the inquiry’s verdict on the Athanassios claims.
Archbishop Chrysostomos has got his Bishops’ backs up by announcing he will convene a Major Holy Synod to consider the homosexuality claims. Chrysostomos is a keen Athanassios supporter and is confident a Major Synod – including leaders from the wider Orthodox Church – would exonerate the Limassol Bishop.
But most local Bishops feel their superior is going above their heads on the issue. The man spearheading the campaign against Athanassios is Archimandrite Andreas Constantinides. Yesterday, police charged Constantinides and fellow archimandrite Chrysostomos Argyrides with conspiring to defame Athanassios.
Constantinides claimed the written charges – brought after a police investigation into claims that witnesses were bribed to testify against Athanassios before a Chruch probe – were the work of the Limassol Bishop and his supporters.
“Athanassios is behind all this; he has the ways; they use methods that allow them to always have an alibi, to always come out on top. They accuse us of what they are doing themselves,” Constantinides said, denying there was a conspiracy to oust Athanassios.
“The truth will soon shine,” he added. Both Constantinides and Argyrides have been suspended from their church duties because of their claims against Athanassios. The other three men facing conspiracy charges are laymen who spoke out against Athanassios earlier this year.
Two of them later withdrew their testimonies, claiming they had been bribed to speak against the Limassol Bishop. Athanassios’ many supporters claim the Bishop is the victim of a plot to knock him off his perch as favourite to succeed the Archbishop.
