Paphos, 25.5.2026
To the Christian flock of the Holy Metropolis of Paphos,
Reverend fathers and blessed people of the Holy Metropolis of Paphos,
With pain of soul but also with unwavering faith in God, I feel the need to address today all of you, the people with whom we have walked together for so many years, with whom we have prayed together, with whom we have shared joys, struggles, tears and hopes.
You know me. You know me not from rumors, nor from accusations, but from our daily common journey within the Church. You know my love for Paphos, for its people, for our priests, for the monasteries, for our saints, for the young people, for the poor and suffering people who daily sought a word of comfort and hope.
I was born and raised in Paphos. Here are my roots. Here I dedicated my life to Christ and His Church. For approximately twenty-five years I served this Metropolis with all my strength. I never sought offices, money or glory. The only thing I desired was to celebrate the liturgy, to preach the Gospel, to hear confessions, to support the weary person and to help every soul to come closer to Christ.
When you elected me as your Metropolitan, I considered it a cross of responsibility and not a throne of power. And I tried with the fear of God to be worthy of your trust.
Unfortunately, however, in a climate of slanders, pressures and false accusations, I was led to the uncanonical removal from the Metropolitan Throne of Paphos.
I say it with pain but also with sincerity: I felt that the decision had been predetermined (there are people moreover who testify to it) before my voice was even substantially heard. The decision of removal preceded the accusations.
The accusations that were presented against me were never given to me with clarity and completeness, so that I could truly defend myself.
Even to this day, one year later, I do not fully know who accused me, what exactly evidence was presented and on what basis I was judged unworthy of my ministry. Moreover, some of the accusations that were unjustly attributed to me appear from evidence to have been committed precisely by His Beatitude without any question of his judgment being raised.
The procedure I experienced did not resemble, for me, a fair judgment. I found myself in an environment of great pressure, with interruptions when I attempted to speak and with words that wounded my soul deeply. I heard characterizations such as "you are a liar," "you are incompetent," "you are illiterate," "you are disobedient," "you are ungrateful." In such a climate, without substantial preparation, without legal or other support, a person finds it difficult even to express clearly what he has inside him. The most regrettable thing was when I saw His Beatitude who as my father for so many years together with him whom I loved and still love and respect who should have embraced me, covered me, protected me expressed himself and acted in every way with the aim of destroying me.
And at that moment I felt that, whatever I said, the decision had already been made.
I then went to the Ecumenical Patriarchate with hope and prayer that my appeal would truly be examined. But there too, as I experienced it, the accusations concerning me which are refuted were not substantially examined. Instead, I received questions of a more general ecclesiastical content about the Synod of Crete, the Ukrainian issue, ecumenism and the dialogues.
And inside me was born even more intensely the feeling that the substance of my case was never truly heard and judged.
My brothers,
I confess before you that there were moments when I broke humanly. Under the weight of the pressure, the phone calls, the events and the psychological burden, I was led to ask for forgiveness and an opportunity for resolution.
But this apology was not an admission of guilt.
It was a cry of humiliation and pain.
Within the Church I learned to ask for forgiveness not only when I am at fault, but also when I want to preserve peace, unity and love. I asked for forgiveness even if, within my conscience, I did not feel guilty for what was attributed to me.
For eight months while I was not suspended the Archbishop informally forbade me to celebrate the liturgy until he brought it to the suspension. The reason is, I believe, a purely personal purpose of his and not of our Church. For one year I lived without speaking with prayer, in a barrage of continuous new groundless slanders. I hoped that His Beatitude and my synodical brothers would try to observe the holy canons and respect for them first and then for the archiepiscopal office I bear. At least to wait for the decision of the courts. I declare before God and men that my conscience remains clear. How will the Church feel before God and history for the condemnation of an innocent person and moreover without a real trial? A trial for which I do not yet have in my hands the decision regarding my removal but a communiqué.
I feel innocent before the accusations that were hurled against me. I consider them groundless, slanderous and unjust. And there are people, testimonies and evidence that will reveal the truth. There are unfortunately depositions and testimonies of conspiracy of His Beatitude with the deposed and suspended mayor of Paphos. Great financial and other interests are at stake, something which I am of the opinion that the conscience of His Beatitude the Archbishop of Cyprus and the other Metropolitans knows.
That is why I decided to appeal to the State and if necessary to the European courts, in order to annul whatever decision was issued for me without my having full rights to be heard, and to present evidence of my innocence. And even the greatest criminal is tried, not executed with summary procedures, in modern democracies.
Not because I want to fight the Church, but so that it does not bear the stigma of an unjust condemnation of a member of Its Body.
The Church is my mother. Within the Church I was born spiritually and within the Church I want to live and die.
I do not ask anyone to judge the faith or the dogmas of the Church. I only ask that it be examined whether a fair procedure was observed, whether there was a real possibility of defense and whether what is provided by the Holy Canons, the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus and the basic principles of human rights were applied.
In these days of great trial, God has not abandoned me.
A little before the session of the Synod which was instantly transformed uncanonically into a court, I had an intense spiritual experience. As if in a vision I saw the Apostle Paul, how he was wronged, how he was led to Rome seeking justice and how he stood with faith in his trials. This event remained deeply engraved within me.
The most shocking thing, however, was when, during the procedure, they removed me from the hall for the decision to be taken, I stood alone and prayed.
I was holding a new New Testament in my hands. I opened it three times, after each time praying fervently to Christ to give me strength. And all three times I fell upon the Gospel passages of the trial and condemnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I did not consider it accidental.
I felt it as a sign of comfort and strengthening from God, to endure this cross with faith, patience and humility.
My beloved children,
What hurts most is not what is said about me. It is the pain I see in the eyes of the people of our Metropolis. It is the tears of priests, monastics, elders, children, young people and families who feel deeply wounded by what has happened.
And then I understand that this trial does not concern only me. It concerns an entire spiritual family.
I ask you, however, from my heart: do not lose your peace. Do not lose your faith in the Church and in Christ.
Pray for everyone. Even for those who wronged me. Let us not allow the devil to sow hatred, division and revenge among us.
I did not learn to hate.
I learned to forgive, to pray and to hope.
And I say it with all my soul: here is my place. Here is my life. Here I want to live, here I want to die and here to be buried, near the people I loved and who loved me. The fact that they asked me to leave my Metropolis without even proven accusations after an unjust procedure that was not even a trial, this is not permissible by the holy canons. On the contrary, in the tradition of our Church the bishop is wedded to his Church - Metropolis and no one can by any means separate him. The separation being pursued is fictitious.
I am ready to endure everything for the truth, for my flock and for Christ. They ask me for a confession of faith which I wrote twice, in accordance with the holy canons of our Church and it seems they did not accept it. We cannot violate the canons and our Orthodox tradition or confess contrary to the holy canons.
I believe unshakably that the truth does not fear examination. And I believe that, in the end, not men but God will speak last.
I hope and pray that justice either in Cyprus or in the European courts will judge impartially, with purity and objectivity, and that with the help of God will come vindication and restoration of this great injustice.
I ask His Beatitude and my holy synodical brothers not to rush with decisions and fait accomplis that will wound the Church irreparably. The only thing I ask is to be able to be heard impartially and for truth and justice to prevail. Because without truth and justice peace and unity cannot prevail in the Church and in our country.
I ask for your prayers in this struggle until vindication and restoration.
With paternal love and blessings,
† The (former) Metropolitan of Paphos Tychikos