A BRASH Paphos bishop Chrysostomos yesterday predicted he would be the next Church leader, following Sunday’s second round of the vote.
The results gave bishop Nikiforos of Kykkos the lead with 46 out of 100 Electors, with Limassol’s Athanassios coming in a close second with 45; Chrysostomos himself garnered just nine out of a possible ten.
In contrast to the first round, which tarnished by allegations of vote tampering, Sunday’s voting went smoothly. There was an isolated incident outside the Archbishopric, where police detained a man for distributing derogatory pamphlets about Nikiforos. The man was later released with a reprimand.
But Chrysostomos, the caretaker of the Church, was yesterday supremely confident he held all the strings to swing the final outcome.
“Like I said many times before…the next Archbishop will be called Chrysostomos.”
“It seems you haven’t digested it yet,” he told CyBC radio.
To win in the next round, a candidate must secure more than 50 per cent of votes among the 100 Electors nominated this weekend and also among a body of 31 ex officio clerics. The two groups vote separately.
If that does not happen, the process is repeated and, in the event of another deadlock, the two ballots are merged, but this time the contest is between the top two candidates only. The winner is the one who gets the most votes, which do not necessarily have to amount to over 50 per cent.
Assuming there is another tie, the matter is settled by a penalty shootout – the vote goes to the Synod, which comprises nine members, including the very bishops running for the top job.
And if no clear result emerges – it is possible for a bishop to abstain from voting – the new Primate will be selected by lottery draw.
What this boils down to is that Chrysostomos, despite scoring very low in the popular vote, could very well end up in the last bout if one of the other candidates should “lend” him his votes.
Moreover, the Paphos bishop is confident he has sway over the majority of the ex officio clerics, who are picked from among the higher priesthood, designated monasteries and abbeys. The body also includes all the members of the Holy Synod.
Significantly, it is the caretaker of the Church who handpicks some of the ex officio priests.
Chrysostomos is operating on the assumption that, since he controls the ex officio body, he is halfway there, so one of the other bishops might strike an alliance with him.
Otherwise, the process will drag on – and no candidate would like to see the affair decided by lottery, where it’s down to pure luck.
Chrysotomos also knows that a coalition between sworn enemies Athanassios and Nikiforos is extremely unlikely, if not altogether impossible.
Yesterday he said that both of his rivals might back him for the “good of the Church.”
Asked what he based this forecast on, Chrysostomos coolly offered:
“I live in this country and know how Cypriot society works. I wasn’t born yesterday, nor did I drop out of the sky.”
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