Nicosia, January 15, 2026
Photo: Romfea
The Holy Synod of the Church of Cyprus has approved the composition and addition of new hymns to the Holy Friday Lamentations service. The decision was made at the hierarchs’ meeting in Nicosia yesterday, January 14.
The new hymns will concern the long-standing “Cyprus issue,” according to the Synodal communique.
The Church’s statement reads: “The Synod approved the proposal from His Beatitude to compose and add supplicatory hymns connected with the long-standing Cyprus issue to the three stases of Holy Friday Lamentations.”
The Lamentations service, celebrated on Holy Friday evening, serves as the funeral of Christ the Lord. The service features extensive hymnography, much of it written from the perspective of the Theotokos as she mourns her Son. The hymns are sung in three groupings, or stases.
The Cyprus issue refers to the division of the island since 1974, when Turkey invaded northern Cyprus. The intervention resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Greek Cypriots and the de facto partition of the island. The northern third of Cyprus has been under Turkish military occupation since then, with the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus recognized only by Turkey. Reunification efforts have continued for decades without success, making it one of the world’s longest-running political disputes.
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