The enthronement of Cyprus’ new archbishop, Georgios, takes place on Sunday afternoon, at the Apostolos Varnavas Cathedral in Nicosia, in the presence of President, Nicos Anastasiades, and House Speaker, Annita Demetriou, among others.
Greece’s Archbishop, Ieronymos II, will also be present, while it is expected that Greece’s Minister of Education and Religious Affairs, Niki Kerameus, as well as Bishops from Greece, and representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, of other Christian Orthodox Churches but also of other dogmas will attend.
The new archbishop will walk from the Archbishopric to the Cathedral at 4pm, escorted by the members of the Holy Synod. During the ceremony the Archbishop will be clothed in the middle of the church with the red mantle and he will be given a second engolpion, which he will wear on his chest together with the cross. After the Act of the Enthronement Synod has been read by the Chief Secretary, he will then sign, in red ink, from the inkwell of Archbishop Kyprianos.
He will then stand on the first steps of the archiepiscopal throne where the first Bishop in command, Bishop of Kition, Nektarios, will offer him the imperial scepter, which dates back to 1869, and address him.
This will be followed by the addresses of the Ecumenical Patriarch, which will be read by the Archbishop of Thyateira, Nikitas, and of Ieronymos, the Archbishop of Athens. A letter from the Pope will be read, which will be read by the Nuncio in Cyprus and Bishop Christoforos of Karpasia will address on behalf of the Archbishopric. At the end, the enthronement speech of Archbishop Georgios will follow.
After the ceremony, the Archbishop will receive congratulations, while he will host a dinner in the evening for guests and representatives.
The Church of Cyprus is one of the oldest autocephalous churches.
In 478 AD the Archbishop of Cyprus Anthemios, following a vision, found the tomb and the remains of the Apostle Barnabas, on whose chest was a copy of the Gospel according to Matthew.
This Gospel was offered by Archbishop Anthemios to the Byzantine Emperor Zeno, who granted the well-known three imperial privileges to each Archbishop of Cyprus: To sign with cinnabar (red ink), to wear a purple mantle during the rites and to hold instead of the episcopal crosier, an imperial sceptre.
Source: Cyprus News Agency