Abp of Cyprus: "I didn't ask because they would have said no."

[Samn!]

This is pretty wild... I get that Patriarch Bartholomew believes that Apostolic Canon 34 doesn't apply to him at the universal level, but apparently it doesn't apply at the Cypriot level either?

And in your letter to the Ecumenical Patriarch, you informed him that you would commemorate the Metropolitan of Kiev.

Indeed. And I also thought it was a good thing, so that they [sc. the metropolitans of the Church of Cyprus] would not be disturbed and we would quarrel, not to inform them because if I did, they would have said no.

And as my own response, I would have said, “I’m not going to listen to you,” which would have made things worse. I say, “I will commemorate,” and they will protest and when they come to me to protest, I will tell them, “Brothers, because I did not intend to listen to you, I did not tell you. I apologize, but it is my right and I did it.”

Two Interviews with Abp. Chrysostomos II

The first interview, conducted by Apostolos Tomaras and originally published in the Cypriot edition of I Kathimerini, can be found in Greek here. Your Beatitude, why did you go ahead at this moment…

orthodoxsynaxis.wordpress.com

 

[Mor Ephrem]

Terrible...

 

[hecma925]

The Pope of Cyprus.

 

[seekeroftruth777]

Unreal, crazy comments, lord have mercy on us

 

[Michael Seraphim]

In the article His Beatitude said that he had the right to do so. Perhaps light can be shed on the comment?

 

[Samn!]

In the article His Beatitude said that he had the right to do so. Perhaps light can be shed on the comment?

It's very unclear why he thinks he has such a right. The Holy Synod of the Church of Cyprus already voted to maintain neutrality on the issue and a primate can't arbitrarily violate a synodal decision.

 

[LukeDM]

The latest from His Beatitude, essentially saying that his bishops don't get a say in the matter:

“They don’t get a say in it. What the cay say is that they won’t concelebrate with me (editor’s note: the Archbishop of Cyprus). We all concelebrate the Divine Liturgy a few times a year during festivities. If I invite them to concelebrate the Divine Liturgy with me, they cannot refuse to do so. When I invite them, they cannot come only if they get sick,” he explained. If they choose not to attend, then there are punishments, he said. “The punishments provided for range from reprimand to defrocking. We cannot do what we want within the Church of Cyprus.”

(Emphasis mine)

Archbishop of Cyprus: If the four do not concelebrate with me, they can be punished even by defrocking - Orthodox Times

The Archbishop of Cyprus gave an interview with the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (RIK) on the night of Thursday, November 26. The recent decision of the Holy Synod on the Ukrainian autocephaly issue was the hot topic during the interview. The Archbishop did not accept the fact that there is a...

orthodoxtimes.com

 

[Michael Seraphim]

The latest from His Beatitude, essentially saying that his bishops don't get a say in the matter:

(Emphasis mine)

Archbishop of Cyprus: If the four do not concelebrate with me, they can be punished even by defrocking - Orthodox Times

The Archbishop of Cyprus gave an interview with the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (RIK) on the night of Thursday, November 26. The recent decision of the Holy Synod on the Ukrainian autocephaly issue was the hot topic during the interview. The Archbishop did not accept the fact that there is a...

orthodoxtimes.com

Bishops do have to conclebrate with their Primate

Also, 'Let the vote of the majority prevail... if two or three Bishops [meaning a minority] out of stubbornness disagree...'

 

[hecma925]

Unilateral defrocking...

 

[biro]

I pray for him.

 

[Mor Ephrem]

Bishops do have to conclebrate with their Primate

And the Primate is supposed to be accountable to the bishops. “I didn’t ask because they would have said no” is decidedly not that.

 

[RaphaCam]

The same thing happened in Alexandria. I have my theories, but I'll refrain from commenting on them in this part of the forum due to its local rules.

 

[rakovsky]

His Beatitude in Cyprus used to come across as pretty reasonable on the topic. Now this....

 

[rakovsky]

It's very unclear why he thinks he has such a right. The Holy Synod of the Church of Cyprus already voted to maintain neutrality on the issue and a primate can't arbitrarily violate a synodal decision.

Good point.