Cyprus bids farewell to trailblazer cleric who stood up for Ukraine

NICOSIA, Nov 12 (Reuters) – Cyprus on Saturday buried Archbishop Chrysostomos II, a trailblazer who butted heads along with his friends to maintain Russian affect within the Orthodox Church at bay and led the most important ecclesiastical reforms in centuries.

Chrysostomos died on Nov. 7 from most cancers aged 81.

He had led the Church of Cyprus, one of many world’s oldest church buildings which traces its lineage to considered one of Christ’s earliest followers, since 2006.

As church bells tolled, Chrysostomos’ open casket was led away in weak autumnal solar to a crypt beneath a Nicosia cathedral. Earlier than being entombed, clerics rigorously eliminated his outer golden vestments, lined him in muslin and doused the shroud with oil within the signal of the cross, chanting Byzantine hymns.

4 of the world’s 15 Jap Orthodox self-governing or autocephalous church buildings have recognised the independence of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, away from the sphere of Moscow’s affect.

The Church of Cyprus recognised it in 2020, with Chrysostomos standing agency in opposition to senior clerics in his church ruling physique, the Holy Synod, seen as pro-Moscow.

He additionally opposed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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“He preserved the standing of the Church of Cyprus as autocephalous, away from any exterior affect or dependence,” Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades instructed a funeral congregation which included Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, religious head of the world’s 300 million Jap Orthodox Christians.

Bartholomew recognised the autocephaly of the Church of Ukraine in 2019, triggering a break up with Moscow. “He was an ardent supporter of the views of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in occasions of turmoil and obstacles,” Bartholomew stated.

Chrysostomos led a church with numerous enterprise pursuits from a beer brewery to actual property. He additionally acknowledged utilizing his clout to assist safe a Cypriot passport for a Malaysian fugitive businessman, Jho Low, although he stated he acted in good religion and didn’t know the investor was on the run.

When he was elected in 2006, he reinstated bishoprics and dioceses abolished in medieval occasions, expanded the Synod to its former dimension and restored the church’s full decision-making functionality. Beforehand, the Cypriot church must summon bishops from different church buildings to deal with main points.

Elections for a brand new archbishop are anticipated on the finish of the 12 months.

Reporting by Michele Kambas;
Enhancing by Andrew Cawthorne

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Ideas.