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The ancient '''Church of independent (' Autocephalous ') Eastern Orthodox Church es, which are in Communion and in doctrinal agreement with one another but not all subject to one patriarch. It is one of the oldest autocephalous churches. The bishop of the capital, Salamis (Constantia), was constituted Metropolitan by Emperor Zeno , with the title of ''archbishop''. HISTORY OF THE CHURCH The Apostle Paul , accompanied by Barnabas and Mark (Barnabas' kinsman), came to Cyprus in 45 AD to spread Christianity . Arriving at Salamis, they travelled across the island to Paphos, where Sergius Paulus was the first Roman official to convert to Christianity. In 50 AD St Barnabas returned to Cyprus accompanied by St Mark and set up his base in Salamis. He is considered to be the first Archbishop of Cyprus. In 57 AD, St Barnabas was stoned to death by the Jews on the outskirts of Salamis, where he was also buried. He thus became one of the first martyrs of Christianity. A few of the Bishops who helped spread Christianity on the island were Lazarus, the Bishop of Kition, Herakleidios the Bishop of Tamasos, Avxivios the Bishop of Soloi, and Theodotos the Bishop of Kyrenia . Towards the end of the 4th Century , Christianity had spread throughout the island. During this time St Epiphanius was Archbishop. His seat was in Salamis, which was renamed Constantia. This independent position by ancient custom was recognized, against the claims of the by the addition of the mineral Cinnabar ; to wear Purple instead of black robes under his Vestments ; and to hold an imperial Sceptre instead of a normal episcopal Crosier . Cyprus suffered greatly from Arab invasions in the following centuries, and during the reign of . In 692 the Quinisext Council (also called "in Trullo") reconfirmed the status and privileges of the exiled Archbishop and in 698 , when the Arabs were driven out of Cyprus, the Archbishop returned but retained the title of ''"Archbishop of Nova Justiniana and All Cyprus"'': a custom that, along with the "three privileges", continues to this day. After the establishment of Kingdom Of Cyprus the Catholic kings gradually reduced the number of Orthodox bishops from 14 to 4 and forced those away from their towns. The archbishop was moved from Nicosia to the region of Solia, near Morphou , the bishop of Larnaca was moved to the village of Lefkara etc. Each orthodox bishop was under the Catholic bishop of the area. The Catholic church tried on occasion to force the Orthodox bishops to make concessions on the differences in doctrine and practices between the two churches, sometimes with threats and sometimes using violence and torture, as in the case of the 13 monks in Kantara. Moreover the properties of many monasteries were confiscated. The persecutions, especially during the Frankish period, did not succeed in uprooting the faith of the Orthodox Greek Cypriot s. The Franks were succeeded by the Venetians in 1489 without any significant change to the status of the Orthodox Church. The conquest of Cyprus by the Ottoman Empire in 1571 led to the recognition of the Orthodox church as the only legal Christian church. The church was considered by the Ottomans to be the political leadership of the Christian population (Rum millet) and was responsible for collecting taxes. Because of the different policies of the Ottoman empire towards Muslim and non Muslim citizens, especially regarding taxation, some Christians converted to Islam . These are known in Cyprus with the name "Linopampakoi". Attempts were made subsequently by the patriarchs of Antioch to claim authority over the Cypriot Church, the last as recently as 1600 , but in vain. Nevertheless, during the Ottoman Period (1571-1878) Cyprus went through hard times. People lived in insecurity and their life and property was constantly at the disposal of the Ottomans. The role of the Church in the preservation of faith, National Identity and traditions of orthodox Greek Cypriots was particularly important. The churches were not mere places of worship but were transformed to schools and places of ethnic inspiration. The Revolution In Greece in 1821, together with information of a revolutionary movement in Cyprus, resulted in the execution of Archbishop Kyprianos on 9 July 1821 and Bishops Chrysanthos of Paphos, Meletios of Kitium, Lavrentios of Kyrenia, of the Abbot Josef of the Kykkos Monastery and other notables, clergymen and common people. In 1872 archbishop Sofronios of Cyprus partipated in a council in Constantinople which condemned Nationalism , triggered by the unilateral declaration of autocephaly by the Bulgarian church. The purchase of Cyprus by the British in 1878 allowed more freedom in religious practices, such as the use of bells in churches (which were forbidden under the Ottomans). Some linopampakoi took advantage of the political change to convert back to Christianity. John Hackett published "A history of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus" in 1901 . At about the same time the church went through a crisis regarding the succession of the archbishop. The two candidates, Kyrillos II and Kyrillos III had mainly political differences (one was a nationalist whereas the other was a moderate). Although the Church gained more freedom under British rule, the British Administration interfered, in certain cases, using restrictive laws on the management of the Church and other areas of national and cultural activity. This led to the October 1931 riot organised by bishops who were also members of the legislative assembly. As a consequence of this uprise, the Bishops Nikodemos of Kition, and Makarios of Kyrenia were exiled and restrictions were imposed on the election of the Archbishop. As a result the filling of the Archbishop's throne was pending from 1933 (death of Archbishop Kyrillos the 3rd) to 1946 , when the Bishop of Paphos Leontios was elected as the new Archbishop. In 1950 , Makarios III was elected Archbishop. While still bishop of Kition he had demonstrated strong intellectual and national activity. In 1949 he founded the Apostle Varnavas Seminary and in 1950 he organised the referendum on the Union ( Enosis ) between Cyprus and Greece . While archbishop he was the political leader of the EOKA liberation struggle in the years 1955 - 1959 . The British exiled him to the Seychelles because of his activities. In which was detached from the Bishopric of Kition, and the Bishopric of Morfou which was detached from the Bishopric of Kyrenia. The Coup D'état of 15 July 1974 forced Archbishop Makarios III to leave the island. He returned in December 1974. The coup was followed by the figures only 421 Greek Cypriots and 155 Maronites remain in North Cyprus. |
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