“What Russian President Vladimir Putin is doing makes no sense. It is unacceptable”, Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus said in a speech on the state television of Cyprus, RIK.
We condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he said. Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus stressed that there is no logic in what the Russian President is doing in Ukraine, noting that Vladimir Putin’s actions show that he is not a Christian.
He also wondered if the Russian president was sane. Asked whether a hierarch can bless a war, he explained that he can bless a defensive war. “If Turkey declares war on us, I will be the first to go,” he said.
Then the Archbishop of Cyprus stressed that the Church of Cyprus has a synodical system, but we do not let it function.
“I am trying to establish this democratic principle in everyone. Everyone wants to do their part. The day before yesterday, the Metropolitan of Tamasos informed me through a third party that he was going abroad. I asked where he was going. I said if he intends to go to Moscow, he shouldn’t because the foreign policy of the Church is not applied by the Bishops, it is applied by the Primate. Then I heard he was going to Ukraine, eventually ended up in Poland. Where did he get his approval? Do you see how we behave? Some do not respect the Synod and the Church. We are sworn to serve the church. The church is not the building, but all people. Sometimes we don’t have morals, and that makes me sad. This island remained Greek because we had the church, alas to lower its level now. ”
Addressing the Synod, he said that he has always been and is strict. “We may disagree with the President of the Republic, but the whole picture that we both show is that we have friendly relations, very friendly relations. Arguing is not a bad thing. Blaming him is bad.”
Regarding the Cyprus issue, he said that “If all the brothers do not understand that the positions are not to satisfy the ambitions, both in the State and in the Church, we are doing something wrong. When he was nominated, my goal was to make the incisions that the Church needed and I thank God that I succeeded.”
