Nicosia, November 29, 2019
The international conference, “Monasticism and the Modern World” began in Nicosia, Cyprus yesterday. His Eminence Metropolitan Nikiforos of Kykkos of the Cypriot Orthodox Church greeted those who arrived at the monastic forum, reminding them that it was monasticism that nurtured theology, hymnography, and iconography and laid the foundations of literature, arts, and education.
His Eminence also expressed the hope that the conference would meet the expectations of its organizers, aimed at revealing the significance of monasticism for the modern world, reports the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism of the Russian Orthodox Church.
At the end of his opening remarks, Met. Nikiforos spoke candidly on the ongoing Ukrainian crisis, which is a topic of concern for the entire Orthodox world:
As a bishop of the Orthodox Church, I feel a deep need to express concern about the painful crisis that erupted in the bowels of our Orthodox Church due to the non-canonical decision of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople to recognize the schismatic Church of Kiev and grant it the so-called autocephaly, contrary to the unanimous canonical tradition and historical Church activity. This tragedy of the schism of the brethren wo are beloved in Christ threatens to split the body of the one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church of Christ.
We are experiencing events today that, unfortunately, resemble the threshold of the Great Schism of 1054, which divided Ecumenical Christianity into Western Catholics and Eastern Orthodox. The schism threatens Ecumenical Orthodoxy after the primates of the churches of Alexandria and Greece joined the Ecumenical Patriarch’s decision.
It is not permissible for anyone, and especially for us Orthodox monks, who are the first defenders of our Church, to remain indifferent to the dramatic situation in which our Orthodoxy has found itself. We all need to translate our passive anxiety into active responsibility. We must prayerfully invoke the mercy of God and the enlightenment of the Holy spirit, so that the primates of the Local Orthodox Churches, with all-embracing love and humble and sacrificial thoughts, will listen to the voice of the Lord, overcome impermissible egoism, obsessions, and mania for power, and begin a fraternal pan-Orthodox dialogue aimed at overcoming the present crisis threatening the unity of Orthodoxy.
We must not forget that the sin of schism is incurable and inexcusable. Only if the principle of conciliarity, on which the Orthodox Church has always relied, will work, can a way out of today's situation be found…
I pray that the all-merciful and all-good Lord will grant a way out of these temptations.
the Archpastor of the Church of Cyprus concluded his speech, once again expressing his wish to the participants of the conference to work in the spirit of brotherly love.
His full address can be read in Greek on Romfea.
Met. Nikiforos has been among the more outspoken hierarchs of the Cypriot Church on the Ukrainian issue. In February, the Holy Synod issued a very diplomatic statement which, although it did not recognize the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” did not offer any substantial critiques of the Patriarch Bartholomew’s actions.
It was later revealed that His Eminence Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol did not sign the statement because he disagreed with several points, including the idea that every independent nation needs an independent Church.
Although he signed the Synodal statement, Met. Nikiforos published his own statement the same day on Romfea that was of a markedly different tone and character. In it, he strongly asserted that it is impermissible to have Eucharist communion with the unordained schismatics of the OCU. He reminded that Pat. Bartholomew himself once recognized the defrocking, excommunication, and anathematization of Philaret Denisenko, from whom the majority of OCU bishops derive their “episcopal consecrations.”
Met. Nikiforos also called attention to the suffering canonical Church: “The biggest mistake made by the Ecumenical Patriarch, from my humble point of view, is the contemptuous disregard for Metropolitan Onuphry, the Metropolitan of the only Ukrainian Orthodox Church having general canonical recognition, and also the recognition, instead of him, of Epiphany, having no canonical ordination, as Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine, and also the handing of a tomos of autocephaly to him while concelebrating with him.”
In July, Met. Nikiforos also joined with the aforementioned Met. Athanasios and His Eminence Metropolitan Isaiah of Tamassos to issue a joint communiqué refuting Ukrainian fake news that they and the Cypriot Church had recognized the OCU schismatics. Rather, they clarified, they respect the institution of the Ecumenical Patriarchate but are deeply concerned about what it has done in Ukraine.
