Filenews 14 March 2022 - by Vassos Vassiliou
A backstage, which amounts to an ecclesiastical coup d'état, is in progress, as claimed by the theologian Theodore Kyriakou, who has been dealing for several years with the affairs of the Church of Cyprus.
According to Mr. Kyriakou, in recent times, the process of electing a new Archbishop has been initiated bypassing the people, whenever it wanted to take place, through the abolition of the elections. This, according to Mr. Kyriakou, can be done by amending the Charter of the Church of Cyprus and specifically article 92. In it it is stated that "Amendment of the Charter is possible, by decision of the Holy Synod, taking by a majority of three-quarters of its members, without prejudice to the provision 2, para. 2''
According to Mr. Kyriakou, the amendment will concern the appointment of the new Archbishop directly by the Holy Synod, instead of the appointment of the three prevailing ones (i.e. those who will collect the most votes) by the faithful and who would constitute the so-called "three-faced".
Such a development essentially gives the opportunity to the Synod to appoint an Archbishop, a member of the Synod, who may not even have had a chance to be included in the three-person meeting and to be put before the members of the Holy Synod for a vote, based on what is in force with the existing Charter of the Church of Cyprus.
According to Mr. Kyriakou, a role of communication and cultivation of the climate for the overthrow of the existing Statute was assumed by a member of the Holy Synod, who expects that with this particular arrangement he will also benefit with the redistribution of roles in the Holy Synod.
If we take into account that the Synod consists of 17 members and given that a three-quarters majority is required, then 13 Synodals will have to be found who will agree to vote in favour of amending the Charter, which is not considered such an easy task.
If this is the case, the current Archbishop will have set in motion his succession, remaining on the throne to the end.
If the amendment proposed, according to Mr. Kyriakou, is finally implemented, then the Statute on the issue of elections will have been overturned, without even having been tested for the election of a new Archbishop.
