Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol criticised Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria because the latter commemorated for the first time Metropolitan Epiphaniy of Kyiv a few days earlier. In particular, the Metropolitan of Limassol said that the Church of Cyprus had been asking for negotiations and further reassurance on how to read the names written in the Diptychs.
Speaking on the radio, Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol stressed that he had been assured that the Patriarch of Alexandria would not commemorate Metropolitan Epiphaniy during the Divine Liturgy but only the Archbishop of Cyprus because the Church of Cyprus had not stated an official position on the matter. Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol was also reassured by the entourage of the Patriarch of Alexandria that Metropolitan Epiphaniy would not be commemorated.
Moreover, Metropolitan Athanasios said that the Church of Cyprus and he personally had asked for reassurance on how and whether the Patriarch of Alexandria would commemorate the Heads of the Orthodox Churches. That is why they accepted to participate in the negotiation process. The Metropolitan of Limassol argued that Patriarch Theodoros deceived them and said that he accepted and recognised Onufriy as the canonical Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine as well as his Holy Synod.
