Paphos, Cyprus, June 2, 2025
Fr. Dimos Serkelidis (left), Abp. Georgios (right). Photo: philenews.com
Following the removal of His Eminence Metropolitan Tychikos from the Paphos cathedra by the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, Archbishop Georgios has also imposed a six-month suspension upon a priest involved in the case.
Many argue that the Synod violated the procedures for removing a bishop laid out in the Church statutes. Among them is Protopresbyter Anastasios Gotsopoulos of the Church of Greece, who produced an in-depth examination of the governing document.
The same argument was made in a video address by Fr. Dimos Serkelidis, who, according to the Archbishop’s accusations, was sent by Met. Tychikos to Thessaloniki where he joined a group of clerics who have walled themselves off (meaning they don’t commemorate the local hierarch, as a form of protest, but remain within the Church).
However, in his video, Fr. Dimos explains that he wasn’t sent to Thessaloniki by Met. Tychikos, but rather had to go for family reasons, and that, in fact, the Metropolitan was trying to bring him back to Paphos. And though he knew certain clerics in the “walling off” movement, he was not one of them, Fr. Dimos says.
He also strongly condemned Abp. Georgios and the Cypriot Synod, saying they made no attempt to find out the truth of the matter, but simply ran with various accusations to remove a hierarch who was taking a strong stand against ecumenism.
And on Friday, May 30, the Metropolis of Paphos, which is being led by the Archbishop until a new Metropolitan is elected, announced that its ecclesiastical court had imposed “the penalty of six-month suspension,” upon Fr. Dimos.
However, according to the priest, proper procedure was also violated in his case, just as in that of Met. Tychikos, reports Ekklisia:
Archbishop Georgios called me to his office in Paphos. Of course I went when he called me before him and in the presence of two or three other priests, he explained to me that because of what I said in my intervention against him, I can no longer serve in the Metropolis of Paphos…
I told him that he was only focused on the conclusions, but my statment had content full of accusations against him. That I accuse him of this sacrilege he committed, the condemnation of Tychikos, without trial, without preliminary proceedings, without giving him the opportunity to exercise all the means provided by the constitutional charter. I told him about the slanders against Tychikos and against me.
After two or three minutes he told me “You’re suspended for six months, if you have anything else to add.” I told him I have nothing else to add and I left.
And only later did Fr. Dimos learn that this meeting was meant to be a hearing of the Paphos Metropolis’ Ecclesiastical Court:
A little while ago I read on the Metropolis of Paphos Viber, the document that the Episcopal Court of the Metropolis of Paphos convened today and suspended Presbyter Dimos Serkelidis…
Then I understood the quality of ecclesiastical justice and how it’s dispensed in the Church of Cyprus. Without a written summons, without showing me any documents, without even knowing that I was being tried. Exactly as our bishop was also deceived.
Fr. Dimos calls on his supporters to stop sending him messages of encouragement and instead take action by confronting the bishops who condemned the innocent Met. Tychikos, demanding explanations from them. He urges people to wake up their local priests and parishes, criticizing the clergy for being passive while this injustice occurred. He asks everyone to reflect on their responsibility for allowing what he calls a crime to happen before their eyes, framing it as a God-given opportunity to stand up for Orthodox principles, warning that there may not be a second chance to do so.
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