Cypriot Metropolitan: Church of Cyprus is on the verge of schism

Metropolitan Nikiforos of Kykkos. Photo: romfea.gr

Metropolitan Nikiforos of Kykkos and Tylliria said that the Orthodox Church of Cyprus is on the verge of schism due to the decision of its Primate Archbishop Chrysostomos to commemorate Epiphany Dumenko, reports the Greek edition of Romfea.

According to Metropolitan Nikiforos, the members of the Holy Synod were stunned when they heard the commemoration of Epiphany, who, in his words, is a schismatic and is not recognized by the Local Churches.

As he explained, this issue was discussed on February 19 after the announcement by the Patriarchate of Constantinople "on granting autocephaly to Ukraine to achieve unity, but this (unity – Ed.) did not happen."

In addition, according to the Metropolitan, "On September 9 the issue was raised again, and the Archbishop informed the Holy Synod that he would publish a letter recognizing Epiphany; however, having contacted President of Cyprus Nikos Anastasiadis, he decided not to publish the document."

He stressed that considering the situation at hand "there is a threat of a split within the Church of Cyprus, while the functioning of the Orthodox Church is also difficult."

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that according to the Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol, the decision of Archbishop Chrysostomos to recognize Dumenko abolishes the Synod.

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