Newly elected head of the Church of Cyprus, Archbishop Georgios said he will follow in the footsteps of late Chrysostomos II on his approach to the solution of the island’s long standing political problem in an interview with the Cyprus News Agency.
‘We shared the same views with my predecessor’, he added, noting that Cypriots must secure all the fundamental rights enjoyed by European citizens, namely and significantly, free settlement throughout the country, the right to ownership and one person one vote rather than the Turkish Cypriot minority of 18% imposing its will on the rest of the population.
‘These are universal rights and we should strive to achieve them for everyone’, Archbishop Georgios said, adding that his priorities included Church charity and social work by supporting those in need, particularly large families, as well as working on motives to increase births.
‘We should also finds substitutes for everything keeping young people away from church and a healthy life’, Georgios stressed.
On internal affairs, the new Archbishop, who will be enthroned on January 8, assured that the 16-member Holy Synod, the religious decision making body, remains united and proof of that is the wide margin of 11 by which he was elected following a 2nd place in the popular vote and the fact that even supporters of the Limassol Bishop, who topped the election promised to work alongside him for the good of the Church.
On the rift between the Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox churches, Archbishop Georgios said that the Church of Cyprus will continue to recognise Archbishop Epiphanios as the leader of the autocephalous Ukrainian church.
Georgios,a former professor of Chemistry and a supporter of scientific method, said he would be seeking new ways of communicating more effectively with the faithful, noting that the individual must be approached in his entirety, also embracing technology and science.
‘Spirituality will not be distorted, or Church beliefs compromised, but the way it is expressed outwards will change’, he added.
The Archbishop said that the Church should approach and provide answers to previously taboo issues, such as abortion, transplants, cloning, in vitro fertilisation and cremation.
