On Sunday, July 30, 2023, Archbishop George of Cyprus and Metropolitans Nikiforos of Kykkos and Tillyria, Seraphim of Zimbabwe (Patriarchate of Alexandria), Tychikos of Paphos, Nektarios of Kition, Athanasios of Limassol, Vasileios of Constantia and Famagusta, and Isaiah of Tamassos and Oreini presided over the annual memorial service for Archbishop Makarios.
Metropolitan Timotheos of Bostra, exarch of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem in Cyprus, also attended the service.
This is the first time that the Metropolitan of Kykkos concelebrated the Divine Liturgy with Archbishop George, leaving aside his opposition in regard to the commemoration of Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv by the Archbishop.
It is recalled that Metropolitan Nikiforos of Kykkos had adopted a particularly tough stance towards the late Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus following the latter’s recognition of the Autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
He had even stated that he would commemorate Archbishop Chrysostomos “if he would not concelebrate with Metropolitan Epifaniy.” “If he cocelebrates with Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv, there will be a clear schism. Now, it is a potential schism. If he cocelebrates with him, then there will be a schism,” he said.
He added that he did not know if he would cocelebrate with the Archbishop of Cyprus: “I will think whether I will cocelebrate with him. This is a matter of hierarchical conscience.”
A memorial speech for late Archbishop Makarios of Cyprus was delivered by the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Nikos Christodoulides.
The Ambassador of Greece to Cyprus, Ioannis Papameletiou, representatives of the parliamentary parties, the Chief of the National Guard, Lieutenant General Demokritos Zervakis, other representatives and a crowd of people gathered to honor the memory of the late Archbishop Makarios III.
Following the end of the Divine Liturgy, a Trisagion service followed in front of the statue of Archbishop Makarios.
Watch the commemoration of Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv at 1:43:46 of the video below:
