Filenews 23 April 2021 - by Dora Christodoulou
The increasing concern of many believers in the province of Paphos regarding Saint Ephraim and his miraculous action, seems to provoke intra-church controversies and condres. One of the pioneers of the construction of the holy church of The Saint despite the Monastery of Agios Neophytos, Archimandrite Alexios Engleriotis, responded yesterday in a particularly strong way to the reports of a clergyman about the "deception" of the faithful by a young man who claimed that he was cured thanks to Saint Ephraim and who undertook the realization of a vision for the construction of a church of the saint in Paphos.
The cleric in question, who is living in a religious site in the village of Lemona, is alleged to have stated that the believer in question is a "con man" and that he does not believe in what this person presents as his personal contacts with the saint himself. In response to the elder, Archimandrite Alexios spoke of the "abhorrent and unworthy comments of an alleged Elder Ephraim" and called on him to be humble and modest if he wants to be called a monk.
"This erratic "monk" should be careful," said Archimandrite Alexios Enculpriotis, "because anyone who does not believe in the miracles of the saint does not believe in God himself. I am sure that Saint Ephraim himself will take over the management of this unwise "old man", who provokes with his statements the religious feeling of the people. And fortunately the people know how to distinguish charlatans from serious people."
And only the way that this elder of Lemona refers to various people, concluded Alexios Enclaviotis, reveals his character and the lack of morals of the alleged monk, in his expression.
