Archbishop Chrysostomos II, the outspoken chief of Cyprus’ Greek Orthodox Christian Church whose forays into the nation’s complicated politics and funds fired up supporters and detractors alike, died on Monday. He was 81.
Chrysostomos had suffered from liver most cancers for the final 4 years and had spent his ultimate days on the church’s headquarters within the capital.
A bulletin issued by a staff of docs mentioned the archbishop “handed peacefully after going through the trial of his ailment with braveness, endurance and Christian endurance" at 6:40 am (CET) on Monday.
“All those that had been near him through the tough hours of his ailment skilled his humility, kindness and deep religion in addition to his concern for his flock," the bulletin mentioned.
It added that the archbishop left behind a legacy marked by his “imaginative and prescient, daring, respect for and restoration of the church's historic custom in addition to progressive adjustments that all the time aimed for the unity of the church".
“What we'll all the time observe us is his directness, kindness, politeness and his smile," the bulletin mentioned.
The CyBC mentioned the Holy Synod -- the church's highest decision-making physique -- will convene to make preparations for the funeral to which different Orthodox Church leaders shall be invited.
Tall and imposing with a white beard in accordance with Orthodox clerical custom, Chrysostomos seldom held again from talking his thoughts on points starting from politics to the nation’s funds, rallying supporters however inflicting consternation amongst some politicians and different critics who scolded him for not sticking to his spiritual duties.
Previous to the island nation’s multibillion-euro monetary rescue by worldwide collectors in March 2013, Chrysostomos declared he would have most well-liked that the cash-strapped nation abandon the euro as its forex fairly than settle for a bailout deal that he mentioned would set its financial system again a long time. He mentioned a euro exit would no less than salvage Cyprus’ dignity.
After the deal was signed, forcing giant depositors within the nation’s two largest banks to take successful on their financial savings, an indignant Chrysostomos mentioned: “This isn’t the Europe that we believed in after we joined.”
The archbishop additionally didn't chorus from making his feedback private. He as soon as instructed communist-rooted former President Dimitris Christofias to interact in some self-reflection after having been handed a “affluent, blissful nation and leaving it with some individuals going hungry”.
The cleric railed in opposition to politicians and bankers he known as “thieves” who ran for canopy whereas “poor individuals paid the piper” for his or her ruinous selections. He additionally warned that he wouldn’t hesitate to name on the individuals to stand up so as to stop technocrats from “wreaking havoc” on the nation’s banking sector.
His feedback concerning the world of finance prompted some critics to say he was behaving extra like a businessman and banker than a religious chief.
Though Chrysostomos had prior to now brazenly courted Russian traders and the Kremlin’s political assist, relations with the Russian Orthodox Church frayed when he adopted in 2020 the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s determination to acknowledge the brand new Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s independence.
His forays into the area’s battle zones included a go to to war-torn Syria in 2016 to supply assist to that nation’s Orthodox devoted. Through the coronavirus pandemic, he threw his full assist behind scientists’ suggestions for inoculations and different restrictions aimed toward stopping the virus’ unfold.
His ascension to the throne in 2006, after his predecessor and namesake might now not perform his duties due to poor well being, mirrored his political adroitness.
Church leaders in Cyprus are elected by lay voters together with a school of clerics, a convention that goes again centuries. Hardly the individuals’s favorite and trailing the 2 frontrunners within the lay vote, Chrysostomos outmanoeuvred his rivals by clinching majority assist inside the faculty to win.
Chrysostomos was all the time open about his right-wing politics and was not afraid to make use of his affect to steer the Holy Synod to bend to his will, even earlier than he turned a frontrunner.
Chrysostomos had spoken brazenly about his mistrust of Turkey’s intentions in Cyprus. In a 2018 interview, he mentioned he by no means believed that a peace deal to reunify the ethnically divided island nation was potential as a result of Turkey wished to ascertain a Turkish state within the nation.
Cyprus was break up in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of a union with Greece. Turkish Cypriots declared an impartial state within the north of the Mediterranean island, recognised solely by Turkey, which maintains 35,000 troops there.
Chrysostomos campaigned in 2004 for the church to take a stand in opposition to what was believed to be an unfair UN-drafted peace plan that the overwhelming majority of Greek Cypriots subsequently voted down in a referendum.
Addressing Pope Benedict XVI through the pontiff’s 2010 go to to the island, Chrysostomos accused Turkey of attempting to hold out “its obscure plans which embody the annexation of the land now underneath army occupation after which a conquest of the entire of Cyprus”.
Chrysostomos additionally mentioned Turks “ruthlessly sacked” Christian artworks, claiming they had been in search of to make Greek and Christian tradition disappear from northern Cyprus. Simply as he urged former Pope Benedict, the archbishop additionally appealed to Pope Francis through the pontiff’s 2021 go to to Cyprus for assist to make sure the safety of the sacred Christian monuments.
Regardless of his politics, the archbishop labored carefully with the Muslim mufti, the spiritual chief of the Turkish Cypriots, in addition to different Christian leaders to rebuild spiritual websites to ship the message that religion is an anchor fairly than a hindrance to peace.
Church's affect on Cyprus
The church’s weighty affect in Cyprus dates again to the Center Ages when the island’s Ottoman rulers had recognised it as the only consultant physique of the Greek Orthodox Christian inhabitants. That continued proper as much as 1960 when Cyprus gained independence from British colonial rule with the election of then-Archbishop Makarios because the nation’s first president.
Born on April 10, 1941, Chrysostomos’ spiritual calling got here early when he joined Cyprus’ well-known monastery of Saint Neophytos as a lay-brother proper after finishing main faculty. He steadily rose by the church’s ranks till 1978, when he was enthroned bishop of his native prefecture of Paphos.
As archbishop, Chrysostomos shored up church funds and enacted a string of reforms, together with restoring the church’s decision-making independence by bolstering the Holy Synod with the ordination of recent bishops and the drafting of a brand new structure.
Chrysostomos additionally opened a church workplace on the European Union’s headquarters in Brussels and was a robust supporter of nearer relations between the Orthodox and Catholic church buildings.
“I wish to do actual work, not only for present. I got here and I’ll finally be gone, so I wish to go away one thing behind for this nation, that’s what issues,” Chrysostomos instructed state broadcaster CyBC in 2022.
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