Head of the Church of Cyprus condemns Patriarch Kirill’s stance

An interview with Archbishop Chrysostomos II, the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus. Photo: politis.com.cy

The head of the Cypriot Orthodox Church, Archbishop Chrysostomos II, criticized Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ for the decision to break the Eucharistic communion with the recognized Churches and cease commemorating the heads of the Greek and Alexandrian Churches.

Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus said in a recent interview with “Politis” that he didn’t support the stance of the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church: “We stop commemorating those who deviate from the Orthodox faith and I ask you, ‘Are the Ecumenical Patriarch, the Archbishop of Athens, and the Patriarch of Alexandria heretics, and thus you stopped commemorating them?’ That is simply not possible. You have the right to protest that they shouldn’t have done this. You have the right to disagree, to say you are wrong. Yes, you have the right to say so. But to break communion? Not to concelebrate? We only do not serve with heretics. Your actions are simply unacceptable.”

Moreover, Abp. Chrysostomos believes that Pat. Kirill wants to be the First Among Equals, though this will never happen.

“He is leading towards a schism, and schism is the greatest sin. I don’t understand. He wants to be first, but I told him he would not be first: ‘The past 17 centuries have secured the first place in the Orthodox world for Constantinople. That’s it. Don’t deceive. Understand this.’ But his egotism prevents him from doing so,” Abp. Chrysostomos said.

The Cypriot primate also harshly criticized three metropolitans in his own Church for speaking out against Constantinople’s actions in Ukraine:

At the Synod I said that we will not take a position either in favor of Moscow or in favor of Constantinople,” Abp. Chrysostomos noted. “I want us to stay neutral so we can help. They both need help. They are egotists and can hardly reconcile themselves… Therefore, I told all the clerics not to make any statements. Sit still, because statements that concern the Church, which is immortal, will remain forever if they are mistaken… The Metropolitan of Kykkos, and the Metropolitan of Tamassos, and the Metropolitan of Limassol spoke in vain. Brothers, stay still. Once the Synod has made a decision, respect it.” 

The outlet “Politis”, which published the interview, has more than once incited hatred against the Russian Orthodox Church and lobbied for pro-American interests.

It is notable that “Politis” is the same outlet that has recently tried to embroil Abp. Chrysostomos in a financial scandal stemming from events from several years ago, even launching a petition against him addressed to the Prosecutor General of Cyprus.

We recall that at the opening of the II International conference “Monasticism and the Modern World”, Metropolitan Nikiforos of Kykkos said that the current crisis in the Church happened due to uncanonical actions of the Patriarch of Constantinople.

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