George of Cyprus (archbishop)
George | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Nova Justiniana and All Cyprus | |
 | |
| Church | Church of Cyprus |
| Diocese | Cyprus |
| Elected | 24 December 2022 |
| Installed | 8 January 2023 |
| Predecessor | Chrysostomos II of Cyprus |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Georgios Papachrysostomou 25 May 1949 |
| Denomination | Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Residence | Nicosia, Cyprus |
| Occupation | Archbishop |
| Profession | Theologian |
| Alma mater | Kapodistrian University of Athens |
| Signature |  |
George (Greek: Γεώργιος; born on 25 May 1949 under the name of Georgios Papachrysostomou in Athienou) is the current Archbishop of Cyprus since 8 January 2023.
He had been the Metropolitan of the Diocese of Paphos since 2006 and, from 7 November 2022, the locum tenens of the Church of Cyprus.[1][2] On 24 December 2022, he was elected Archbishop of Cyprus.[3] He "formally assumed his new duties" starting Sunday, 8 January 2023, after the enthronement ceremony at Saint Barnabas Cathedral in Nicosia, Cyprus.
Early life
[edit]George was born in Athienou in 1949, a village in Cyprus. He studied chemistry at the Kapodistrian University of Athens between 1968 and 1972, then he took theology courses there between 1976 and 1980. On 23 December 1984, he was ordained deacon in the Church of Cyprus and 17 May 1985, priest and Archimandrite by Archbishop Chrysostomos I of Cyprus.[4]
Clerical Career
[edit]In 1994, he became Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Church of Cyprus. Alongside his ecclesiastical duties, he served as a chemistry teacher in Cypriot high schools. He was arrested and abused by the Turkish occupation troops in Cyprus and lodged an appeal in 1989 against Turkey at the European Court of Human Rights (n° 15300/891), which resulted in Turkey's first conviction (507/3.2.94) for violation of human rights in Cyprus.[4][5]
In 1996, he was elected Bishop of Arsinois.
On 29 December 2006, he was unanimously elected to replace Chrysostomos II of Cyprus as Metropolitan of Paphos. In the meantime, he became head of ecumenical affairs for the Church of Cyprus as well as head of its bioethics committee.[4]
2022 Archiepiscopal election
[edit]On 7 November 2022, following the death of Chrysostomos II of Cyprus, he became locum tenens of the Church of Cyprus pending the episcopal election which were to determine the next archbishop.[1] He announced the Archbishop's death on Cypriot and Greek television and called on all the faithful to pay their last respects to the remains of the late Archbishop.[6]
Chrysostomos II was buried on 12 November 2022 in the Cathedral of the Apostle Barnabas in Nicosia, where the Archbishops of Cyprus are buried. The ceremony was presided by George of Paphos and participated, among others, the President of Cyprus, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the Patriarch of Alexandria, the Archbishop of Greece and the President of Greece.[7]
He was responsible for organizing the proper holding of the 2022 Cypriot archiepiscopal election.[8]
Archbishop of Cyprus
[edit]On 24 December 2022, he was elected Archbishop of Cyprus by the Holy Synod, with 11 votes in favor out of the 16.[3] The Archbishop's enthronement ceremony took place on Sunday, 8 January 2023, at Saint Barnabas Cathedral in Nicosia, Cyprus. In his address, he stated that his goal is to "reinvigorate the Christian message in modern spiritual discourse", continue the "Church’s outreach to the poor", and "convey that scientific thought isn’t in conflict with the precepts of Christianity".[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b NewsRoom. "Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus reposed in the Lord". Orthodox Times. Archived from the original on 2022-11-07. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
- ^ Giorgobiani, Natia (2022-11-07). "The head of the Cypriot Orthodox Church died". Perild. Archived from the original on 2022-11-07. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
- ^ a b NewsRoom. "Metropolitan of Paphos Georgios is the new Archbishop of Cyprus | Orthodox Times (en)". Orthodoxtimes. Archived from the original on 2022-12-24. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
- ^ a b c "Biography of George of Paphos". www.impaphou.org (in Ancient Greek). Archived from the original on 2009-11-18. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
- ^ Polignosi. "Γεώργιος Μητροπολίτης Πάφου". www.polignosi.com. Archived from the original on 2023-04-09. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
- ^ "O Mητροπολίτης Πάφου ανακοινώνει λεπτομέρειες για την κηδεία του Αρχιεπισκόπου". YouTube (in Greek). Archived from the original on 2022-11-07. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
- ^ "Εξόδιος Ακολουθία του Μακαριστού Αρχιεπισκόπου Κύπρου κυρού Χρυσοστόμου Β΄". YouTube (in Greek). Archived from the original on 2022-11-12. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
- ^ "Τι προνοεί το Καταστατικό της Εκκλησίας μετά τη χηρεία του Αρχιεπισκοπικού θρόνου. Πως διεξάγονται οι εκλογές". cyprustimes.com. Archived from the original on 2022-11-09. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
- ^ "Cyprus' new archbishop enthroned, no Russian clerics attend". AP NEWS. 2023-01-08. Archived from the original on 2023-01-08. Retrieved 2023-01-09.