THIS COMING week, Cyprus will come under an unprecedented global spotlight as Pope Benedict XVI travels to Cyprus, following an invitation from President Demetris Christofias, for a three-day visit of historic religious and political significance for the island.
The Pope will follow in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul, with a pilgrimage to the legendary ‘Pillar of Saint Paul’ in Paphos, where an ecumenical celebration will be held with Archbishop Chrysostomos II. He will of course visit the Catholic communities of Cyprus, for whom he will hold a number of masses, as well as visiting the President of the Republic and the Archbishop at their respective residences. And he will bring together bishops from the Middle East, presenting them a working document ahead of a Synod on the Middle East, due to be held in October.
Pope Benedict is not the frantic globetrotter that was his predecessor, John Paul II, and since becoming Pope in 2005, he has only made 15 foreign visits, a fact that makes his visit to Orthodox Cyprus – the first ever by a Pope – all the more extraordinary.
To put it bluntly, the visit will deliver Cyprus more international attention next weekend than any ‘enlightenment’ or advertising campaigns could ever dream to achieve. It is an extraordinary opportunity and one that Cyprus cannot afford to blunder.
The Catholic Church of Cyprus describes the Papal visit as “a great opportunity to promote humane and Christian principles and values, based on freedom, forgiveness, reconciliation and peace.” It is a message all the more important in a region so violently divided by the political instrumentalisation of religion. We can only pray that that is indeed the message of hope that will linger as the Pontiff flies back to Rome on Sunday.
For there are many minefields in this visit to a country whose violent division has crystallised religion around ethnic nationalism, where the language of religion is often hijacked for political militancy rather than serving the fundamental Christian message of forgiveness and reconciliation.
The first danger is that sensing a unique propaganda opportunity, the Greek Cypriot leadership – both political and religions – should hammer its political message on the Cyprus problem to the point of counter-productive saturation. There is no need to labour the point: during his visit, Pope Benedict will stay at the Apostolic Nunciature of Cyprus, in the compound of the Franciscan friary of Holy Cross, wedged inside the buffer zone at Paphos Gate in Nicosia, a residence surrounded by ruins and barbed wire. Even if nobody uttered a word about the Cyprus problem for three days (a vain hope), the Pope (and the journalists accompanying his visit) would leave with a profound impression of what Cyprus has suffered and of the urgent need for a solution.
Let us hope that in as much as our leaders do talk about the Cyprus problem, they underline a desire for reconciliation and peace, rather than posting themselves as the defenders of Christendom on the front line against the infidel.
The second danger is that the Pope is greeted by hostile demonstrators from the fundamentalist fringe of the Orthodox Church – a danger that both the police and the Orthodox Church itself are taking very seriously. Ecumenical meetings in Cyprus have in the past sparked violent protests from fundamentalist protesters, and pamphlets and leaflets have recently been circulated labelling the Pope an “evil heretic” and the Catholic Church a “godless antichrist”.
This hostility goes to the very heart of the Church hierarchy, with at least five members of the Synod reportedly planning to boycott the welcoming ceremony for the Pope. Commendably, Archbishop Chrysostomos II has been blunt in his condemnation of the critics, warning any Bishop who failed to welcome the Pope would be expelled from the Synod for a year. “As the official Church we will welcome him with love and respect,” the Archbishop said: “We will exchange views and I believe his visit will be positive and beneficial for our country and our people.”
The Pope is not coming to Cyprus to solve the Cyprus problem, and he is not coming to Cyprus to convert its population to Catholicism. He is coming on a pilgrimage in the footsteps of the Apostles, to pay respect to the early Christian heritage that we share across Orthodox and Catholic traditions. His message will be one of peace, humility and forgiveness. If Cyprus reaches out to share that message, then the Papal visit will be a huge success.
