The commitment that he will continue the important and social work of the late Archbishop Chrysostomos B’, the Metropolitan of Paphos and candidate for the Archbishop's throne George gave once again. Speaking at an event organized by the women's initiative in support of his candidacy on Thursday night referred to both the religious and social work of the late Archbishop.
He made special reference to the support of the youth and especially the students with the construction of the student residences, stressing that this wonderful project will continue, while he also referred to his vision for the youth. The construction of the Student Residence in Limassol, with over 300 rooms – apartments, fully equipped for the needy students was the next big project of the late Archbishop, he characteristically said. “The millions allocated are many, but the work will proclaim the eternal concern of the Church for her flock,” he noted.
The first and greatest work of the late Archbishop was the restoration of the Holy Synod, as a Synod of the Autocephalous Church. Since the 12th century, when the Latins destroyed the 14-member Synod of the Church of Cyprus, "no other Archbishop attempted to restore it," said the Metropolitan of Paphos.
"Archdiocese, 9 Metropolises and 3 Dioceses, institutionalized by the Charter of the Church of Cyprus, with specific limits, restored the prestige of our Church within the Pan-Orthodox Family and gave it the possibility to solve all emerging s’ this problem, without the need to seek help from elsewhere”, he added.
He added that the Theological School is another great project of the blessed Archbishop of Cyprus Chrysostomos. A characteristic feature of an autocephalous Church is, he said, the existence of s’ this School of the highest level in which to train its clergy but which also becomes a pole of theological discussions. The effort of Archbishop Makarios III to establish a Theological School was not successful due to the Coup and the Invasion and it was carried out by Chrysostomos II, he added.
Another equally important work of the Archdiocese of the blessed Archbishop Chrysostomos B’ is the establishment of the Parochial Clergy Salary Body, said Pafos Georgios. The millions of euros that the Archdiocese pays every year are enough so that the priests and communities, in all the Metropolises, who are not able to be paid by them, have the same salary throughout Cyprus, depending on the salary scale in which they are classified, he mentioned.
The Metropolitan of Paphos George said that he was particularly moved by the interest of the women of Paphos "and the warm support for our positions. I expressed our positions, which mainly consist in the continuation and expansion of the social and charitable work of the blessed Archbishop Chrysostom II in the creation of more social benefits for the whole world, student residences in other cities and possibilities for people to be treated abroad and to deal with their health”. Thirdly, he continued, he will give special importance to the guidance of young people and to “protect them from other paths, such as with the youth center founded in Paphos by the Blessed Archbishop”.
He also added that he will refer to the Holy Bible for the new problems and questions that arise with the progress of technologies and science and in general the work of the Church will give that promotion that is needed so that the Church next to and from the Ecumenical Patriarchate and next to the problems of the world, to march into the 21st century and the other centuries to come.
He also said that the church was the only institutional body that had the responsibility for the education of the place as well as for the national self-awareness of the people. They, he said, kept the people's conscience that they are Greeks and Orthodox Christians.
Concluding, the Metropolitan of Paphos said that the project of claiming the Archbishop's throne is not easy, noting that he thought that he should not be silent. He also said that for so many years he left his mark on society, and that none of the other hierarchs has spoken about the national issue and the immigration issue. “Unfortunately, immigration has become a tool of Turkey to corrupt us,” he concluded.
Source: CYPE
