Second phase of Archbishopric elections concluded

The Church of Cyprus concluded on Sunday the second phase of the election process for a new Archbishop, which began on 24 September, when Orthodox Christians went to the polls to elect 1,400 special representatives.

Yiannis Harilaou, in charge of the church election body, told reporters that today, the 1,400 special representatives elected 100 general representatives, clergy and laymen, classified in the following manner: 50 for the Archbishopric district (Nicosia and Famagusta) and ten general representatives for each of the other five metropolitan districts, Pafos, Limassol, Kition, Kyrenia and Morfou.

The last phase of the election process will take place on the 4th or 5th of November, announced on Sunday acting Primate of the Church of Cyprus, Bishop of Pafos, Chrysostomos.

Three high ranking clergy are contesting the top post in the Autocephalous Church of Cyprus, Bishop of Pafos Chrysostomos, Bishop of Limassol Athanasios and Kykkos Monastery Bishop Nikiforos.

Bishop of Pafos was also asked about the loss of one vote in his district.

He said that everyone is free to elect whoever he wishes, adding that he respects the result of the Pafos district even if they elected only nine and not ten general representatives, as was expected.

He noted though that his role, even with only nine general representatives, remains an important one.

The Pafos district elected nine representatives for Bishop of Pafos and one for Bishop of Kykkos, Nikiforos.

During the last phase of the election process an Electoral Assembly will be set up, comprising ex officio members (such as bishops, deputy bishops, abbots and monks) and the 100 general representatives.

The Assembly will be called to the Holy Archbishopric to elect the Archbishop by secret ballot in two separate ballot boxes, one for each of the two groups that makes up the Assembly (ex officio and general representatives).

The new Archbishop must secure the majority of votes in both ballot boxes. This complex voting procedure allows for three separate voting processes to take place before the name of the new Archbishop is announced.

If these three processes fail to produce a name or if there is equal vote, then the decision rests with the 9-member Holy Synod which meets to elect the archbishop in a secret ballot. If again, there is equal vote, due to an invalid or blank vote, as an election officer has explained, the new archbishop is elected in a draw.

The new primate of the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus will replace the ailing Archbishop Chrysostomos, who has been incapacitated for the past four years.

Chrysostomos succeeded the late Archbishop and first President of the Republic of Cyprus Makarios III, who died on August 3, 1977. Since Chrysostomos’ illness, the Church has been run by the Acting Primate of the Church, Pafos Bishop Chrysostomos, as stipulated in the Church Charter.

The Church of Cyprus is autocephalous and its head enjoys exceptional privileges (signs in red ink, wears special empirical tunic at important church ceremonies and holds a scepter). The Church was announced autocephalous in 478 AD when the remains of its founder, Saint Barnabas, were located on the island, in a tomb together with a copy of the gospel by Saint Mathew.