By Alexia Saoulli
CYBC television yesterday refused to comment on accusations that it had humiliated Archbishop Chrysostomos this week by broadcasting footage of the primate apparently unable to answer questions by its reporter.
On Monday night, the Archbishop made his first appearance on CyBC since his return last September from Athens, where he had spent four and a half months being treated for head and spinal injuries. Although no official statement has ever been made, it is an open secret the Archbishop is suffering from Alzheimer’s, the degenerative neurological disease.
The Archbishop was taken to Paphos Bishopric unexpectedly on Monday for a two-hour visit. According to Phileleftheros, he was obviously tired and drained when he arrived at around noon, accompanied by a driver and male nurse.
The visit was unplanned and at the suggestion of the Archbishop’s doctors, Paphos Bishop Chrysostomos told reporters. According to the Bishop, the Archbishop walked around the Bishopric for a while. “I tried to remind him some familiar rooms, like his office or other familiar objects. He remember something, it was a beneficial change,” he said.
The Bishop added that the Archbishop’s state of health did not allow discussions on his duties and the possibility of Church elections to reinstate him. “We respect his condition, it was a simple outing and nothing else,” he told the paper.
However, before the Archbishop’s could get away, a crew of CyBC journalists surged forward to ask him a few questions.
Asked why he had visited Paphos, he replied: “It is our duty to visit one another and to express brotherly love.” Asked if he followed the Church’s problems, he said: “I don’t know, what problems?” And finally when asked if he believed there would be Church elections to replace him, he said: “If need be.”
Critics said the news slot had been offensive and humiliating for the Archbishop. “He was clearly very frail and there was no need to see him in that state. No one deserves such treatment when they are that sick. It was inexcusable and in very bad taste of the channel,” a source said.
But newsroom head Vangelis Loukas simply said he had “no comment” to make on the matter.
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.
