Cyprus Religion
Orthodox Church
The religious allegiance ofthe Cypriot population matches their ethnic Beginnings of composition, with some 73% belonging to the Greek Orthodox faith. Christianity
Cyprus can claim to be one ofthe world's oldest Christian countries, for the apostles Paul and Barnabas preached Christianity here as early as the year 46. It was only at the end of the 4th century, however, under Byzantine rule, that Christianity became firmly established on the island. The old pagan temples, destroyed in violent earthquakes, were replaced in the course of the century by Christian basilicas (for ex ample at Salamis and paphos).
In the ear'y years of Christianity the Orthodox church consisted of the five patriarchates of Rome, Jerusalem, Constantinople, Alexandria and Antioch. Cyprus belonged to the patriarchate of Antioch, but sought from an early stage to become independent of Antioch.
In the year 477 Anthemios, Archbishop of Cyprus, saw in a vision the tomb ofthe apostle Barnabas, and duly discovered a tomb containing the saint's remains near Salamis. The apostle was found to be holding in his hand a manuscript ofthe Gospel ofSt Matthew. This enabled the Cypriot church to prove that it was an apostolic foundation, and a synod held in 478 recognised the autocephaly (i.e. the independence, with the power to appoint its own head) ofthe Cypriot church. This first autocephalous church was followed by others - in the 7th century the Georgian church, in the 10th century the Bulgarian church, and there after the Russian, Serbian and Romanian churches. The Greek church became independent only in 1850. The grant of autocephaly gave the Archbishop of Cyprus the right to wear purple robes on feast days, to sign documents in red ink and to carry a sceptre.
The independent Cypriot church was little affected by the Great Schism of 1054, the split between the western and eastern churches.
In the Middle Ages Cyprus was ruled by a French noble family, the Lusignans, who declared the Roman Catholic faith to be the state religion, oppressed Orthodox believers and confiscated church property.
The Orthodox church recovered its ancient rights only under Otto man rule. The Archbishop of Cyprus now became the official repre sentative of the Cypriot people and gained increased political influence.
Between 1960 and 1977 Cyprus was the only state apart from the Vatican to be ruled by a prince of the church, Archbishop Makarios III.
In the Orthodox church the ordinary priests may be married provided that they have taken a wife before being ordained; they are, however, excluded from higher office in the church. Bishops, like monks, are celibate.
There are some 4000 Greek-speaking Maronites - a sect which origi nally came from Lebanon - on Cyprus, including small numbers in the Turkish-occupied north of the island. The Maronites maintain a close relationship with the Roman Catholic church and recognise the Pope as supreme head of the Church. The founder of the Maronite commu nity was St Maro, who founded a monastery on the river Orontes in the 5th century. The first Maronites came to Cyprus in the 9th century, and in the MiddleAges there were 80,000 of them on the island. The head of the Maronite community in Cyprus is a bishop, whose church is in the Greek part of Nicosia, near the line of partition.
Holiday Villa near Latchi
There are also small Roman Catholic and Anglican minorities with their own churches.