CITING “humanitarian reasons,” the Holy Synod yesterday decided not to hold elections to replace ailing Archbishop Chrysostomos as primate of the Church of Cyprus.
At a marathon session of the Church’s ruling body, the ecclesiastical leaders decided by majority that Chrysostomos should remain in place, despite his inability to carry out his duties.
The Archbishop is rumoured to be suffering from Alzheimer’s, and is recovering from a fall he took a few months ago, leading to his extended hospitalisation in Greece. Chrysostomos’ stay in Athens had been shrouded in controversy, with allegations that some church quarters wanted to keep the Archbishop abroad as they preyed on his succession.
A medical report compiled — in English — by three foreign doctors on Chrysostomos’ state of health had been handed over to Church leaders late last week, but the bishops wanted to wait until yesterday to study the Greek translation.
With the media widely reporting that the Church is split into two camps — those pushing for a succession, and their opponents — most prominent clerics were yesterday cagey on the Synod’s decision, simply saying it was reached on humanitarian grounds.
Bishop Chrysostomos of Paphos, seen as a major powerbroker, told reporters that elections for a new Archbishop would be postponed indefinitely, “until better days come”, a likely allusion to the ongoing developments in the Cyprus problem. Asked to comment on whether this meant the Church would remain leaderless and what this entailed, Chrysostomos laconically said “I believe that a Church must at all times have a leader.”
An alternative proposal was put forward yesterday by Kikkos Bishop Nikiforos; in a written announcement, Nikiforos described the decision not to replace the Archbishop as wise, given the “critical times our country is going through”. He went on to recommend that the Holy Synod designate a commonly acceptable candidate who would act as Church leader for a transitional period. Nikiforos suggested the bishops of Paphos or of Kiti were “suitable” candidates.
Prior to discussing the Archbishop’s status, the Holy Synod was briefed for two hours by Attorney-general Alecos Markides on the UN settlement plan submitted earlier this month. Church leaders have rejected the UN plan, describing it as unacceptable. The Synod also sought clarifications from Markides on the thorny issue of the sanctioning of Church property transactions in the absence of the Archbishop.
The ageing Chrysostomos has been primate since 1977, succeeding the late Archbishop and President of the Republic Makarios.
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.
