Four bishops come out against Annan plan

FOUR bishops yesterday issued an announcement urging the people to reject the United Nations plan for a comprehensive solution of the Cyprus problem.

The Bishops of Paphos, Kyrenia, Salamina and Arsinoe, said that the Church considered a ‘yes’ vote to be irrational and would soon result in Greek Cypriots seeking a homeland in a foreign country.

The four high-ranking clerics stressed that with a ‘no’ vote the Republic would join the EU and a better chance would be given to find a fairer solution in accordance with the acquis communitaire.

They suggested that the current de facto situation would cease when Turkey began negotiating its accession into the EU.

President Tassos Papadopoulos briefed the Holy Synod earlier yesterday.

Paphos Bishop Chrysostomos said some of the Synod’s members did not want to issue a statement, adding however that he was in favour of taking action.

Chrysostomos, who has already rejected the plan on numerous occasions, stressed that the country was in danger and that he would never retreat even if he was left standing alone.

Limassol Bishop Athanassios said that he unequivocally rejected the plan.

“We should not vote for it; I am in favour of ‘no’ in the vote,” Athanassios said.

He added however that every person had a right to their opinion and stressed that the people should remain united and peaceful.

Morphou Bishop Neophytos on the other hand said he was in favour of the plan, which was necessary to reunite the country.

He said he really wanted to be convinced by the President’s heroic ‘no’ but: “I feel that this plan is a necessity for our country to be united and most of all, being a cleric to be able to operate the churches, which have been enslaved for so long.”

Neophytos said there would be a long time before another proposal came along ,adding that he would not embark on a ‘yes’ campaign.

He said he had listened carefully the President but he had already made his mind up.

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.