CYPRUS’ Orthodox Church leader Archbishop Chrysostomos took centre stage yesterday to welcome Pope Benedict to the “Island of the Saints and Martyrs” and to the first ‘Church of the nations’, founded by Apostles Barnabas, Paul and Mark.
Before launching an all-out attack on the Turkish occupation, Chrysostomos spoke about Christianity. He underlined the historical and religious significance of the presence of the early Christian apostles in Paphos, which was where Saint Paul became the leader of their mission to spread the word of Jesus.
“It was here that the first European citizen was baptised in the name of the Holy Trinity,” Chrysostomos said. “It was here that the first official citadel of idolatry fell and in its place the glory of the Cross was raised in all its splendour, and would gradually spread to cover the whole of Europe and shape its historical future.”
It was in Paphos, he added, that Europe’s Christian roots took seed and burst forth.
It was in Paphos that Paul “went on to sow the seeds of the bread of life in your own cathedrals and throughout the whole of Europe”, he added.
Ever since, the Church of Cyprus has had a long and fruitful Christian course, he told the Pope.
“Throughout its long progress it has endured numerous troubles and difficulties, lived through dark nights, experienced many conquests, gone ‘through fire and water’, but guided always by the Holy Spirit, not only did it survive, but it continues to give its Orthodox Christian Testimony, and to fulfil its God-given mission,” he added.
But all this changed with the 1974 Turkish invasion, the Archbishop said.
“Since 1974, Cyprus and its Church have been experiencing the most difficult times in their history. Turkey, which attacked us barbarously and, with the power of its arms, occupied 37 per cent of our territory – with the tolerance of the so-called ‘civilised’ world – to implement its unholy plans, first to annex our occupied territories and then the whole of Cyprus,” he said.
“In the case of our island, as it has done elsewhere, Turkey has implemented a plan of ethnic cleansing,” Chrysostomos added. “It drove out the Orthodox Christians from their ancestral homes and brought – and continues to bring – hundreds of thousands of settlers from Anatolia, thus altering the demographic character of Cyprus. In addition, it has changed all the historical place names into Turkish ones.”
Cyprus’ cultural heritage, he continued, has been plundered relentlessly and its Christian monuments are being destroyed or sold on the markets of illicit dealers in antiquities, in an attempt to rid the island of every last trace of all that is Greek or Christian.
“We hope that in this terrible ordeal, which has caused so much agony to the Christian congregation of our Church since 1974, the Good and All-Merciful Lord will not turn His face from our suffering people, but will grant us peace, freedom, and justice, thus granting to us the all-fulfilling love given by His presence in our hearts,” said Chrysostomos.
The Archbishop called on Pope Benedict to actively help the Cypriot people in their struggles. “We look forward to your help in order to ensure protection and respect for our sacred monuments and our cultural heritage, in order that the diachronic values of our Christian spirit might prevail. These values are currently being brutally violated by Turkey – a country desirous of joining the European Union.”
