Orthodox Church slams Miss Universe plans

By Athena Karsera

THE HOLY Synod of the Cyprus Church yesterday slammed planned millennium celebrations including the Miss Universe Pageant, saying events should be focused on the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Christ.

“We are surprised and saddened to have been informed that during the celebrations of 2000 years since the birth of Christ, events have been organised that are not religious… showing the importance of Jesus Christ’s birth.”

Without naming the Miss Universe pageant, the Synod then condemned “international beauty competitions that expose scandalised respectable members of our Church to female nudity.”

The statement said this and other “unsuitable” events would be taking place “at a time at which our people face the greatest danger in their long history from a national and religious standpoint.”

The Holy Synod then called for the organisers to call off the event and for Church members not to take any part in the competition.

Commerce and Tourism Minister Nicos Rolandis last month announced that Cyprus would be the host of the 2000 Miss Universe Pageant.

Rolandis said this “event of the millennium” would provide Cyprus with exposure in over 100 countries, expecting to attract approximately 2.4 billion television viewers.

Rolandis had heavily promoted the idea of Cyprus as the birthplace of the ancient Greek goddess of beauty and love, Aphrodite.

The contest is to be held at Nicosia’s Eleftheria stadium in mid-May.

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.