Cyprus Bank’s Bailout Hands Ownership to Russians

LIMASSOL, Cyprus — When European leaders engineered a harsh bailout deal for this tiny Mediterranean nation in March, they cheered the end of an economic model fueled by a flood of cash from Russia. Wealthy Russians with money in Cyprus’s sickly banks lost billions.

But the Russians, though badly bruised, are now in a position to get something that has previously eluded even Moscow’s most audacious oligarchs: control of a so-called systemic financial institution in the European Union.

“They wanted to throw out the Russians but in the end, they delivered our main bank to the Russians,” said the Cypriot president, Nicos Anastasiades, in a June interview. 

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Cyprus scrambles to avert meltdown

NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cyprus considered nationalizing pension funds and ordered banks to stay shut till next week to avert financial chaos after it rejected the terms of a European Union bailout and turned to Russia for aid.

Crisis talks among the political leadership in Nicosia are set to resume on Thursday after late-night meetings to discuss a "Plan B" broke up on Wednesday without result.

EU officials voiced frustration but little sympathy for an ambitious but now bust banking system that extended itself well beyond the island; Russia, whose citizens have billions to lose in those Cypriot banks, called the EU a "bull in a china shop".

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European Central Bank Gives Ultimatum to Cyprus

BERLIN — Cyprus on Thursday received a stark ultimatum from the European Central Bank: The tiny island nation must find $7.5 billion to bolster its failing banks by Monday or see them collapse.

The announcement that the European Central Bank would withdraw emergency funding from Cyprus’s teetering banks if no bailout is in place by Monday gave urgency to the country’s scramble to find cash. It came as European leaders warned in the strongest terms yet Thursday that if Cyprus’s banks fail, problems could quickly spread to the other 16 nations that share the euro currency.

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Cyprus plans to confiscate up to 10% of bank deposits

It is a bad day to have your money deposited in a bank in the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus. And it may just mean some bad days ahead for the rest of us.

Early Saturday, the nation reached an agreement with international lenders for bailout help. Part of the agreement: Bank depositors with more than 100,000 euros ($131,000) in their accounts will take a 9.9 percent haircut. Even those with less in savings will see their accounts reduced by 6.75 percent. That’s right: Anyone with money in a Cypriot bank will have significantly less money when the banks open for business Tuesday than they did on Friday. Cypriots have reacted with this perfectly rational reaction: lining up at ATM machines to try to get as much money out in the form of cash before the money they have in their accounts is reduced.

Read the rest here.

I think this is a colossal mistake. People are very logically going to conclude that if this can happen in Cyprus why not in another debt strapped country? It could precipitate a run on banks in every Euro Zone country that has major debt problems. If I lived in Greece Italy Spain or Portugal I would be waiting at my bank on Monday morning to yank every Euro and then convert half to gold and silver coins and bury them in the backyard.

Turkey threatens to annex North Cyprus if talks fail

Turkey may annex northern Cyprus if the divided Mediterranean island can’t resolve a four-decade split through United Nations-led reunification talks, a government official told the Turkish Cypriot Kibris newspaper.

“All options are on the table,” Turkey’s European Union Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis told Kibris in an interview in London. Turkey hopes for reunification under a federal system or a two-state solution, Bagis said, adding that if those proposals fail, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus may be attached to Turkey, the only country that recognizes the breakaway state.

Cyprus has been divided since Turkey invaded the island in 1974 after a coup aimed at uniting it with Greece. The internationally recognized Greek Cypriot government takes over the rotating EU presidency in July.

Bagis told Kibris that Turkey won’t deal with a Cyprus-led EU presidency. Cypriots are blocking negotiations, Bagis said, adding that Turkey’s EU accession has been on hold for a year and a half, according to Kibris.

Source.

Bosnia, Cyprus and Kosovo: America and Islamism in the Balkans

The conflicts that engulfed the former Yugoslavia still remain unresolved in the political arena and open to Western political shenanigans and covert meddling from Turkey and Saudi Arabia in Bosnia and Kosovo. Orthodox Christianity faces many attacks and only a naïve individual would claim that America and the hands of Turkey and Saudi Arabia are clean.

America and other Western nations did little to stop Turkey invading Cyprus in 1974 and creating a de-facto nation and altering the demographics of northern Cyprus and using this area for military purposes.

Irrespective of the rights and wrongs of Cyprus you have no vindication of allowing a foreign army to invade another nation and then altering the ethnic and religious nature of the society that was invaded. However, the response by America to this Turkish and Islamic invasion was not only minimal but it clearly wasn’t important enough to the elites who pull the strings.

The invasion was both nationalist in nature and religious because what is left of Orthodox Christianity in northern Cyprus? Also, are Orthodox Christian religious leaders free to convert and spread the faith in northern Cyprus?

In Turkey ethnicity and religion is fused together by the current leader of Turkey but anti-Christian themes run deep within the psyche irrespective of the leader. After all, Turkey is the cradle of Orthodox Christianity and “old Byzantium” but this “cradle” was destroyed by constant Islamic invasions, Turkish migration and Islamization which enslaved and sold European Christian slaves for many centuries.

The one uniting theme of the 1915 Turkish genocide which is still denied by modern day Turkey is that millions of Armenian/Assyrian/Greek Christians were slaughtered and just like “old Byzantium” and modern day northern Cyprus and Kosovo – you have very few traces of Orthodox Christianity.

Therefore, in northern Cyprus, Kosovo and “old Byzantium” the virtual 100% Christian lands have become a graveyard because of past Islamic invasions and because of recent factors. These recent factors apply to the combined forces of America, Turkey, Islamic terrorists, Saudi Arabian funding, and other important areas alongside a distorted media which is anti-Orthodox Christian.

In many Western academia circles and according to Islamic apologists we are told that Islam means peace, but in truth it means “a piece of Christianity to swallow” and then to Islamize. How do virtual 100% Christian areas become “Orthodox Christian graveyards?”

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Two Orthodox statements on the Pope's visit to Cyprus

Two rather distinctly different views...

First the address of Archbishop Chrysostomos II to Pope Benedict XVI at an ecumenical celebration after the Pope's arrival.

Your Holiness, Pope Benedict of old Rome,
Welcome to the Island of Saints and Martyrs!

Welcome to the first Church of the Nations, founded by the Apostles Barnabas, Paul and Mark!

Welcome to the Church of the Apostles, after the establishment of which the Holy Spirit led the Apostles to separate themselves from their brethren and sent them towards the Nations!

"So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews … they had gone through the island to Paphos" (Acts 13:4-6).

In this very spot, your Holiness, stood the synagogue of the Jews and from this place St Barnabas and St Paul preached the word of God to the Jews.

"But the word of God is not chained" (2 Timothy 2:9). It could not have been possible for the Spirit of Love of the Incarnate, Crucified and Resurrected Lord to remain restricted among the Jews. Jesus Christ came to the world "that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:15).

The commandment of the Holy Ghost was for them to preach to the Nations. Thus, when the Roman deputy, Sergius Paulus, "a prudent man" according to St. Luke, invited the Apostles "to hear the word of God" (Acts 13:7) they gladly went forth to the place where the political administration of the island was based in order to preach the word of the Lord for the first time among the Gentiles also.

At this point, "Barnabas and Paul exchanged their roles. Here was a place not for the Cypriot, but the Roman citizen".

As of that moment Paul became the leader of the mission. He also changed his name. From this moment on he was no longer called Saul in the New Testament, but Paul!

It was in this town that the first miracle of the Apostles was performed, as recorded in the New Testament. It was here that the first European citizen was baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity. It was here that the first official citadel of idolatry fell and in its place the glory of the Cross was raised in all its splendor, and would gradually spread to cover the whole of Europe and shape its historical future.

It is here, your Holiness, that the Christian roots of Europe took seed and from here its spiritual shoots first burst forth. The foundations of the edifice of Christian civilization in Europe were laid on this very spot where we now stand, deeply moved by the sense of history. It is for this reason that Cyprus is justly called "the Gate of Christianity in Europe".

Here in Paphos, after the wondrous events that took place, Paul became established as the Apostle to the Nations, and went on to sow the seeds of the bread of life in your own cathedra and throughout the whole of Europe.

Your Holiness,

Since 45 AD when the Apostles first set their foot upon this island until the present day, the Church of Cyprus has had a long and fruitful Christian course. Throughout its long progress it has endured numerous troubles and difficulties, lived through dark nights, experienced many conquests, gone 'through fire and water', but guided always by the Holy Spirit, not only did it survive, but it continues to give its Orthodox Christian Testimony, and to fulfill its God-given mission.

But, alas, since 1974, Cyprus and its Church have been experiencing the most difficult times in their history.

Turkey, which attacked us barbarously and, with the power of its arms, occupied 37% of our territory, is proceeding -- with the tolerance of the so-called 'civilized' world -- to implement its unholy plans, first to annex our occupied territories and then the whole of Cyprus.

In the case of our island, as it has done elsewhere, Turkey has implemented a plan of ethnic cleansing. It drove out the Orthodox Christians from their ancestral homes and brought -- and continues to bring -- hundreds of thousands of settlers from Anatolia, thus altering the demographic character of Cyprus. In addition, it has changed all the historical place names into Turkish ones.

Our cultural heritage has been plundered relentlessly and our Christian monuments are being destroyed or sold on the markets of illicit dealers in antiquities, in an attempt to rid the island of every last trace of all that is Greek or Christian.

We hope that in this terrible ordeal, which has caused so much agony to the Christian congregation of our Church since 1974, the Good and All-Merciful Lord will not turn His face from our suffering people, but will grant us Peace, Freedom, and Justice, thus granting to us the all-fulfilling love given by His presence in our hearts.

In this struggle of ours, Your Holiness, which the Cypriot people are waging with the guidance of their Leaders, we would greatly appreciate your active support. We look forward to your help in order to ensure protection and respect for our sacred monuments and our cultural heritage, in order that the diachronic values of our Christian spirit might prevail. These values are currently being brutally violated by Turkey -- a country desirous of joining the European Union.

Your Holiness,

In this joyful moment of your presence among us together with your retinue, we, the President of the Republic, the Government, the Holy Synod, the pious congregation of our Church, and I personally, would like once again to address to you a heartfelt welcome and wish you a pleasant stay.

+Chrysostomos Archbishop of Cyprus
Holy Archbishopric of Cyprus
4 June 2010

Source

And then the comments of Metropolitan Paul of Kyrenia, Cyprus from 28 May 2010

"It is with the deepest sorrow and spiritual anguish that we have been informed by His Beatitude the Archbishop during the convening of the Holy Synod on the 4th of May 2010, of the visit of the Pope upon the Orthodox soil of our saint-bearing island of Cyprus, which will be taking place pursuant to an official invitation that the President of the Republic of Cyprus extended to him as the Head of the State of Vatican. We have duly expressed our opposition - Synodically - to this visit, and have declared that we shall not participate in any event related to it, because our conscience does not permit it, inasmuch as the Pope is not just any political leader, but the leader of the heresy of Papism. The reason for this is that the Papists, with their adulteration of the proper Ecclesiology, have turned the Church of the living God from a Body of Christ to "a terrestrial political organization", a worldly organism and a state which has secular powers, the way that the Vatican is...

Exploiting the opportunity of this visit, the Pope had asked that his second status also be projected, as the religious leader of the Roman Catholics. That is why he requested and secretly secured through his diplomatic services (as was proven eventually) the approval that he was given - which unfortunately we were informed of only recently, without previously being asked if we consented.

We simply became the audients of that decision, with which we of course disagreed, but alas in vain, since everything had already been finalized and predetermined in advance, unbeknownst to us. The only item that my humble person had agreed to was an encyclical to be dispatched to the Christian flock, in order to prevent any scandalizing and turmoil in the conscience of the faithful, with serious repercussions and unforeseen reactions. It is a pity, watching the supporters of Ecumenism extending compliments and diplomatic politeness to heretics, to the point of praying together with them, despite the explicit prohibition by the sacred Canons, while simultaneously confronting the reactions of the faithful members of the Church (who are agonizing over the outcome of the theological dialogues and are scandalized seeing Orthodox clergy keeping company and praying together with various heretics) with sarcastic smiles and abundant disdain, as though they (the faithful members) are the enemies of the Church.

That is why we consented to the decision to send out a relative encyclical to the Christian flock, in which it would be mentioned that the Pope's visit was in response to an invitation by the President of the Republic, and that during his visit, there would be no theological dialogue taking place, while simultaneously pointing out the delusions of the Roman Catholics and the preservation of Unia. Unfortunately however, we came to realize afterwards, when reading the edited text - which, may it be noted, was sent to us six days after the Synod had convened - that its contents did not correspond to the positions that we had expressed synodically in order to consent to the issuance of the encyclical.

The Roman Catholics once again proved to be excellent diplomats. As made evident in the daily Press, they had arranged the Pope's schedule in such a manner that - by means of worship congregations, especially the one that will take place in the closed stadium of Nicosia where Roman Catholic clergy from the Middle East will be present - confusion will ensue among the pious Orthodox of Cyprus, who are not in a position to discern the Uniates. Seeing them participate in the ritual, dressed in Orthodox vestments, it is certain that they will be misled and scandalized, by perceiving them to be Orthodox clergy. It is also not precluded that many foreign Press agencies - also fooled by the external appearance of the Uniates - will erroneously transmit the news that it is common prayer with "all of the Eastern Orthodox Churches". The attempts of the Vatican to exploit the opportunity and present the Pope as the leader of Christianity and the entire world is very obvious.

With displays such as this, it is our humble opinion that the heretic papists are not assisted in becoming aware of their delusion, but instead are encouraged to preserve their intolerance and remained fixed in their cacodoxies, thus provoking the religious sentiment of the Orthodox. The persistence therefore in the precision of the Orthodox dogma should not be misconstrued as fanaticism or religious intolerance. If only the heretic papists would see their errors, spit out their delusions, return to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, and accept the undivided, Apostle-delivered Truth, the way it was formulated in the eight first centuries and safeguarded to this day by the Orthodox Church.

The argument that this visit will supposedly assist in the solving of the Cyprus issue can only cause us pain and immense concern. Let the governors be careful to not intervene in the matters of the Orthodox faith and exert detrimental pressures, supposedly for the sake of national interests, because the only thing they will achieve is the loss of Divine Grace, which will result in precisely the opposite of what they are pursuing. Be not persuaded by potentates, by sons of men, for in them there is no salvation ("Μη πεποίθατε επ' άρχοντας, επί υιούς ανθρώπων, οις ουκ έστι σωτηρία" - Psalm 146:3), the Scripture characteristically mentions. Every time the Orthodox beseeched the Papists - and in fact mixing the matters of the Faith with politics - in order to supposedly obtain Papal help and protection, the exact opposite results were achieved. Those who harbor the illusion and cultivate the idea to the faithful people that by making partners of the heretics they will solve contemporary social or national issues and that the much-coveted union between the Orthodox and the members of other confessions will be achieved with secular criteria, should be aware that the Pope regards the said union with the Orthodox Church as an establishing of the Papal institution in the East and the submission of all the Orthodox, who will thereafter be under his poemantic jurisdiction as Uniates. History teaches us that the Pope has never hastened to aid and support the Orthodox. We share in the agony for the future of our suffering island, but we also humbly believe that Cyprus' vindication will not be achieved by encouraging contemporary syncretism, but rather with the help of almighty God, as has repeatedly been proven within History.

The immediate objective of the Pope is that he be accepted as the universal religious leader of all Christians, and the ultimate one is to be acknowledged as the leader of all religions. The invocation of the Lord's words "that they may all be one..." (John 17:21) for the purpose of laying the foundations for ecumenistic openings has no theological basis, unless it is supported by "the unity in the Faith and the communion of the Holy Spirit", otherwise it will be overlooking the prerequisites placed by Christ Himself: "...just as we are one" (John 17:22).

The Orthodox Church has never ceased to beseech the All-merciful God "for the union of all". It is the sedate, cleansed nous and the incessant Prayer that attract the Grace of the All-holy Spirit and assist in the partaking of the uncreated Grace of God; not the communication skills and public relations. May the Lord shed His light upon us all, so that we might 'correctly preach the word of His truth'...".

Source.
Just a reminder; please refrain from overheated comments or polemics in comments. Thanks... John

For some, the past is never another Country

IF NOTHING else, the small, but very public dispute over the Pope’s visit to Cyprus has highlighted the deep divisions within the Church of Cyprus.

No sooner had the ink dried on a Holy Synod circular – bearing the signature of all the metropolitans – welcoming Benedict XVI to Cyprus, than a number of bishops aired their disapproval, citing concerns that the Pope’s visit was inappropriate and might ‘harm’ the Orthodox faith.

The police meanwhile have confirmed they are assessing information on possible disturbances breaking out during the Pontiff’s stay. Security around the Pope will be draconian, and authorities will be on the lookout for fanatics flying in from Greece.
There may be good reason for this. In October last year, around 100 Orthodox protesters, including monks, were arrested after demonstrating at an inter-faith conference hosted by Paphos Bishop Georgios.

Later on, they hounded a Catholic priest out of a church in Chlorakas while he attempted to marry a Catholic couple.
It’s not clear who the objectors are – religious fanatics or fundamentalists – but there is a common strand, namely, they oppose rapprochement and dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church. ‘Roman’ being the operative word here.
“The Orthodox Church suffered a great deal under the Latins,” says Andreas Papavassiliou, a well-known theologian who often writes on the subject.

“There is a dark history where the Catholics are concerned. We can never forget, for instance, the Crusaders’ sacking of Constantinople in 1204, which precipitated the downfall of the Byzantine Empire.”
“Under the Latins [Lusignan rule],” he goes on, “the 14 bishoprics of Cyprus were cut to four, and the Orthodox bishops were reduced essentially to vicars.”

So is it all about old grudges? No, says Papavassiliou: more than that, there are deep, irreconciliable theological differences between the two religions.

And he has no qualms about labelling Catholics heretics. “A heretic is someone who believes wrongly. Catholics are Christians, but they are heretics. That is why our religion is called Orthodoxy [loosely translated as ‘true faith’].”
As hard-hitting as the above views may sound, they come from someone who for years participated in inter-religious dialogue and is well-versed in the subject.

Asked what he thinks of the ongoing dialogue, Papavassiliou sums it up thus: “It’s pointless. The differences are too vast. The Catholics aren’t about to admit being wrong about certain things, there’s too much at stake. So I don’t see any progress.”
The core theological dispute revolves around the question of the Filioque. Filioque, Latin for “and (from) the Son”, was added in Western Christianity to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, commonly referred to as the Nicene Creed. This creed, foundational to Christian belief since the 4th century, defines the three aspects of the Trinity: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. In its original Greek form, the creed says that the Holy Spirit proceeds “from the Father”. The Latin text speaks of the Holy Spirit as proceeding “from the Father and the Son”. The Orthodox church refused point-blank to accept the addition.

These theological reflections aside, there are more practical reasons why hard-core Orthodox are suspicious of Catholics. They point to such things as the highly centralised structure of the Roman Catholic Church, whereas Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches are ‘autocephalous’, or a head unto itself. Papal infallibility is another point of contention for some Orthodox.
Closer to home still, it is the Pope’s activities while in Cyprus that are most vexing to local dissenters. The latter point an accusing finger at the Church of Cyprus, and Archbishop Chrysostomos II in particular, and wonder how it agreed to play along.
The Pontiff’s itinerary will begin with an official welcoming service at Paphos airport on June 4, followed by a pilgrimage and “ecumenical orison” (multi-church prayers) at the Column of Saint Paul at Saint Kyriaki Church.

On June 5, the Pope will have an audience with President Demetris Christofias at the Presidential Palace, before meeting members of the Latin and Maronite churches at the Elementary School of Saint Maronas in Anthoupolis. He will also meet Archbishop Chrysostomos II, and attend mass at the Holy Cross Latin Church.

On Sunday, he will hold a mass at Eleftheria sports stadium in Nicosia, and present to prelates and primates his Instrumentum Laboris: a text to prepare Bishops for a meeting to discuss the issue of Christians in the Middle East in Rome this October. Before departing, he will hold a prayer service at the Virgin Mary of Graces Maronite Cathedral, at Paphos Gate in Nicosia.

“They are letting the Pope use Cyprus to promote his own Catholic agenda,” protests Papavassiliou.

“He will prepare the ground for a Middle East council, and this in an Orthodox jurisdiction. Let’s hope the Archbishop will not hold a joint liturgy with the Pope, because that will be the last straw.”

Papavassiliou says that officially Pope is coming to the island first and foremost under his capacity as head of state (the Vatican), since the invitation was made by President Christofias.

“But why, then, is he being greeted by the Archbishop at the airport, and later at the Archbishopric? How come he is holding prayer services here? It all goes to show that he is also coming under his ecclesiastical capacity.”

To prove his point, Papavassiliou says that the original invitation to the Pope was made by Archbishop Chrysostomos during a visit to the Vatican. Shortly after his return to Cyprus, Chrysostomos wrote to the Pontiff urging him to visit the island.
“Now they’re telling us that he’s coming at the President’s invitation, and that the Church is ‘just consenting’ to the visit. They’re pulling wool over our eyes.”

So why is Chrysostomos keen on having the Pontiff in Cyprus?

“He’s an ambitious man. I think the previous Archbishop would never have agreed to this, he would have drawn the line,” says Papavassiliou, adding that he knew both men well.

Gregory Reichberg of the PRIO Cyprus Centre, who has conducted research on religion, Catholicism and inter-religious dialogue about war and peace, says he can understand why Archbishop Chrystostomos’ actions can be surprising to some.
“On the one hand, he comes across as a hardliner on the Cyprus issue, and on the other he is more open-minded, in favour of rapprochement with the Catholic Church.”

According to Reichberg, the opponents of rapprochement in Cyprus think it is tantamount to subservience to the Catholic creed.
Bishop Isaias of Tamassos, who is pro-rapprochement and has been involved in inter-religious dialogue with Protestants, agrees:
“I think these objections are down to insecurities of some of the Orthodox faithful. They are misplaced fears…Orthodoxy has nothing to fear,” Isaias told the Sunday Mail.

“We are not making any concessions, we shall not engage in debate over doctrine while the Pope is here, so there’s no reason for concern,” he added.

The bishop dismissed the argument that it is the very absence of a clear Orthodox stance on the Catholic faith which feeds such dissent among the ranks.

“The official position of Orthodoxy is that Catholics are a schismatic Church, they are not heretics. We recognise their baptism, and mixed marriages are allowed.

“As for the other objections, well, the Pope will be coming here to see his flock in Cyprus. There is nothing wrong with that. And as for the prayer services, may I remind some people that Orthodox priests also perform liturgies in Catholic countries, like Italy.”

Background

The East-West Schism, also known as the ‘Great Schism’, divided medieval Christianity into Eastern (Greek) and Western (Latin) branches, which later became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, respectively. Relations between East and West had long been embittered by political and ecclesiastical differences and theological disputes. Prominent among these were the issues of “filioque” and the Pope’s claim to universal jurisdiction.

The Church split along doctrinal, theological, linguistic, political, and geographical lines, and the fundamental breach has never been healed. The Crusades, the Massacre of the Latins in 1182, the capture and sack of Constantinople in 1204, and the imposition of Latin Patriarchs made reconciliation more difficult. This included the taking of many precious religious artifacts and the destruction of the Library of Constantinople. On paper, the two churches were actually reunited in 1274 (by the Second Council of Lyon) and in 1439 (by the Council of Florence), but in each case the councils were repudiated by the Orthodox as a whole. In 1484, 31 years after the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks, a Synod of Constantinople repudiated the Union of Florence, making the breach between the Patriarchate of the West and the Patriarchate of Constantinople final.

Cyprus’ relationship with the Roman Catholic church has also been coloured by the harsh treatment its Greek Cypriot population received at the hands of its Roman Catholic rulers the Lusignans (1192-1489) and Venetians (1489-1571).

Most notorious is the torture and massacre of the ‘Kantara 13’ by the Roman Catholic rulers in May 1231, after 13 Orthodox monks from Mount Athos had settled at Kantara monastery and attempted to revive the ascetic way of life and Orthodox tradition on the island.

Source
Hat Tip OBL

Note: Please refrain from posting overheated or polemical comments. We had some issues with this on another thread recently. Thanks... John

Orthodox Primate of Cyprus condemns anti-Catholic protesters

THE ARCHBISHOP yesterday slammed religious groups who oppose the Pope’s visit in June, warning that they put themselves outside the Church. A group, calling itself the ‘Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Motherland Traditions’, has been circulating a booklet entitled Pope: The Cause Of Evil. “Unfortunately there are in Cyprus too, the mindless who go against the decisions of the official Church,” Archbishop Chrysostomos II said.

He warned that these people were placing themselves outside the Church. The Archbishop said the Pontiff had been officially invited to Cyprus by the government with the Church’s agreement and “as the official Church we will welcome him with love and respect.” Chrysostomos II said there will not be any talks between the Church and Pope. “We will exchange views and I believe his visit will be positive and beneficial for our country and our people,” Chrysostomos II said. He urged those who opposed the visit to “come round” and listen to the official church.

Read the rest here.
Note: The above excerpt was slightly modified in format, though not wording, to make it more readable.