You’d be forgiven for thinking the Latin Community of Cyprus is something to do with South America. It’s not. It’s actually the collective name for the 20,000-odd Roman Catholics who make their home on the island. A sizeable number of the population, and a dynamic community which is very active in terms of helping its members. And hopes, says Antonella Mantovani, to do even more in the future.
Following in her father’s footsteps, Antonella is running to be the elected representative of the Latin Community in Cyprus – a constitutionally recognised group with a seat in the House of Representatives. “But it’s not a political seat,” Antonella explains. “Like those who represent the Maronite and the Armenian communities, the Latin Community representative deals with social, welfare and religious issues that concern our community.” These three major communities have each held a non-politically affiliated seat in Parliament since independence, as constitutionally recognised groups since 1960. “It’s due to the communities’ historical ties with the island,” Antonella continues; “communities which have, for centuries, been part of local society.
“So the Latin Community is basically those in Cyprus who have declared themselves to be of the Catholic faith. In Paphos, for example, there’s a very large British population of Catholics; then you’ve got all the foreign workers here – mainly from the Philippines and Sri Lanka – and a host of other nationalities such as German, French, Mexican, Eastern European… It’s not about language or common history or territory, it’s not an ethnic grouping,” she adds. “What unites us as a community is the Latin rights of the Roman Catholic Church, and essentially what we have in common is that we’re all Catholic, and we have all made Cyprus our home.”
It’s a community with a local history that goes back hundreds of years, to the first nationals of countries such as Dalmatia, Spain and Italy; “to those who came to Cyprus as merchants to trade about 200 years ago. People who often ran a lot of the foreign consulates operating at the time, and provided a lot of the European influences that are still seen today.” Going back even further, Antonella explains, you can see the influences of the Latin Community in many of the mediaeval monuments that are still around today: “Bellapais Abbey was Catholic; the walls of Nicosia were built by the Venetians, and Kolossi by the Knights – all links to the Venetian and Lusignan communities which are the root of the Latin Community here.”
Antonella is speaking from personal experience: her own family is of Italian descent, and can trace its roots back to the arrival of the Mantovani family – from a town close to Venice – in Cyprus in 1600. “My grandmother used to tell me historical stories of my family as if they were fairy tales,” she says with a smile. “And both my father and I have inherited that love of history.”
A family, then, with a long association with the island, and a love of its history and community. In fact, Antonella’s father – Benito Mantovani – is currently about to step down from a 25-year term as the representative of the Latin Community because “he’s reached a certain age,” smiles Antonella. “He feels happy with what he’s contributed, and is looking forward to someone else taking over. He did a lot of good, I think,” she says, mentioning some of the many projects to which he contributed. “He helped to create the St Francis Shelter for foreign workers in Limassol, a place where those who come to church but then have nowhere comfortable and protected to spend the rest of their day can congregate, cook, and hold meetings. He also aided in the creation of subsidies for Catholic pupils going to private schools on the island; supported the establishment of the Catholic hospice in Paphos – a place where those of any ethnicity or religious denomination can receive care –and was instrumental in the setting up of the Youth Association of the Latin Community.”
And now, Antonella has a plethora of ideas on how to further the good works of the community, policies and projects she hopes to put into action should she be elected: the development of a Latin Centre in Nicosia for various groups of the Latin Community; cultural events inspired – or headlined – by Latin artists and the history of Latins in Cyprus; preservation of the monuments of the Latin Community – including the publication of a book relating to the import of these historical testaments; and the creation of a Women’s Association of the Latin Community. Plus, she’s looking to further many of the ongoing projects: “We have a Youth Association, and I want to encourage more young people to participate, to get them involved and give them a platform to address social issues, or the support to organise projects of their own. And we also recently signed an agreement with TEPAK to take part in the programme ‘Cooperation with the Digital Heritage Research Lab’, which is basically an online collection of digitised images, an archive of all European cultural heritage.”
It sounds like a great deal of work for one person to take on, but Antonella admits to being “very self-motivated by things with a social aspect which help the community. There’s a lot of practical work involved in being the representative, and obviously the more you want to do the busier you are. You’re at members’ disposal as things come up all the time. And then there’s the more governmental aspect: dealing with legislation and government projects attending the plenary session in Parliament each Thursday. If elected, I will be active and involved in everything, most especially in motivating others and encouraging people to join.” As it stands, only those who are registered voters and Cypriot nationals can vote, but Antonella hopes to grow that number, making the Latin Community in Cyprus “dynamic, making people feel they are part of something bigger. And,” she concludes, “I do hope people will turn up to vote on the day. Whoever you vote for, just go vote! Because there’s a wonderful, vibrant community out there and we’d love for people to be involved.”
For more information on the Latin Community of Cyprusvisit www.latincatholicsofcyprus.com or email [email protected]. For information on Antonella Mantovani, visit her website on www.antonellamantovani.com, email [email protected] or call 25 362045
