They speak of love, unity and low tones, while their actions reveal division, selective strictness and persecution against Orthodox Hierarchs.
When the Archdiocese speaks of low tones, of love, of reconciliation and of unity, the faithful have every right to expect consistency between words and deeds. Unfortunately, however, reality reveals a completely different picture. Hypocrisy has reached such a point that proclamations about peace are accompanied by practices of division, backstage maneuvering and vindictive treatment of those who do not conform to the line of power.
First and foremost responsible for this situation is Archbishop George himself. From the day of his election, instead of functioning as a father of unity and peace, he continues to divide the people and the Church with his statements, interventions and choices. Instead of maintaining the spiritual balance that his office requires, he constantly intervenes in the Cyprus issue, takes positions on political matters and on parliamentary elections, creating the impression that the Archdiocese functions more as a political center of influence rather than as a spiritual ark of the people of God.
At the same time, the Avvakoum Monastery scandal left a deep wound in the trust of the faithful. The way the case was handled raised serious questions and caused intense scandal. Instead of complete transparency, purity and restoration of truth, the sense of selective management and cover-up prevailed. And this sense is reinforced even more when the people see hierarchs with serious moral and financial scandals being protected, without substantive consequences.
At the same time, however, strictness becomes relentless when it comes to Metropolitans with a clear Orthodox mindset, to Hierarchs who do not compromise with secularization, ecumenism and the pressures of the times. The most characteristic example is Metropolitan Tychikos of Paphos, who is treated in an unprecedented, harsh and deeply unjust manner.
The uncanonical, substitutionary and illegal deposition and the imposition of suspension do not simply constitute an administrative act; they constitute a clear persecution of a Bishop who consistently expressed Orthodox ecclesiastical mindset. The fury manifested against him can no longer be hidden. It is so evident that not only the people of Cyprus see it, but the entire Orthodox world outside it.
When someone covers up scandalous situations and at the same time exhausts all his strictness on those who insist on Tradition, then we are not talking about pastoral responsibility but about selective power. We are not talking about justice but about targeting. We are not talking about unity but about division with an ecclesiastical mantle.
The Church is not governed by personal likes and dislikes. It is not a mechanism of imposition nor a place of purges. A Bishop is not an employee who is removed because he causes annoyance. He is a bearer of apostolic succession, a shepherd and father of the people of God.
When therefore the Archbishop speaks of love and reconciliation, he must first look at whether his actions serve what he proclaims. Because the greatest crisis in the Church is not external attacks, but internal hypocrisy.
And this today, unfortunately, has a name, a face and a responsibility.
Dr. Nikodemos Grigoriou