In an effort to restore unity in the Church of Cyprus, all
the island’s bishops will today conduct a liturgy together, while a second such
function has been scheduled for the end of the month.
The decision was taken by the Holy Synod on Monday, following months of bitter
fighting among bishops over the succession of the ailing Archbishop.
The Synod’s secretary, father Marios Georghiou, said the first joint liturgy
would be held today at Saint Barnabas church in Dasoupolis in Nicosia while the
second was scheduled for June 29, the feast of Saint Paul.
Georghiou said some problems had arisen for the second liturgy because of
bishops’ prior arrangements, though they would try to iron them out in order to
hold the liturgy in Paphos.
Georghiou said the Holy Synod had on Monday examined financial issues;
according to press reports yesterday, a huge deficit in the Kykkos monastery
balance sheet had drawn criticism from the majority of bishops.
Politis reported yesterday that the monastery’s balance sheet has shown
huge, unexplained deficits, most of which were justified as operating expenses.
Most members of the Holy Synod wondered how a monastery could incur such high
operating costs, which surpassed the operating costs of the Archbishopric.
For 2001, Kykkos monastery showed a deficit of £1.1 million, while 2002 was
even worse with the deficit rising to £3 million.
The daily said 70 per cent of the deficit concerned the second half of the
year, a period when an unofficial election campaign for the archbishop’s
succession had been in full swing.
The Synod has since decided it will not hold any elections for as long as the
Archbishop is still alive.