Cyprus church leaders keep on squabbling

The Holy Synod, the executive council of the Church of Cyprus, approved Friday the election of 100 special electors from among the 1400 lay electors last month, paving the way for election of a new Archbishop on November 4.

But the synod’s meeting was reportedly a heated one where the locum tenens of the throne, Bishop Chrysostomos of Paphos, refused to divulge the names of six new clerics who will comprise the 31 ‘ex officio’ electors to be added to the 100 special electors in the final round of the elections.

Bishop Nikiforos of Kykko, a front-runner for the throne, and Bishop Neophytos of Morphou, accused Chrysostomos of acting despotically, who had cited the protection of the six new votes as the reason for the secrecy in accordance with the church constitution.

In his defence, the Bishop of Paphos said that he did not reveal the names of the new cleric electors, because, some people who he refused to name, “have repeatedly called on and pressured some of the other ex-officio electors to vote in their favour.”

Nikiphoros has secured 46 lay electors and Bishop Athanassios of Limassol, his main rival for the throne, has 45. Bishop Chrysostomos secured nine electors.