Paphos, Cyprus, January 29, 2026
Photo: philenews.com
The harsh treatment of His Eminence Metropolitan Tychikos, formerly the ruling hierarch in Paphos, Cyprus, continued today as he was made to leave the diocesan office and apartment at the threat of police intervention.
Yesterday, Archbishop Georgios of Cyprus sent an ultimatum to the Metropolitan, saying he had until this morning to surrender the keys, or else the police would be called to forcibly enter the apartment and office and take inventory of items present. The Archbishop’s letter was published by philenews.com.
According to a report from Ekklisia Online this morning, Met. Tychikos informed Abp. Georgios that the keys were in the door and that he never had any personal belongings there anyways.
In May, the Holy Synod of the Cypriot Church voted to remove Met. Tychikos as the ruling hierarch of the Paphos Metropolis, bringing a number of accusations against him, including that he supposedly supports schismatic clergy. The Metropolitan has repeatedly denied all such accusations and confessed his fidelity to the dogmas and canons of the Church.
Following a provision in the statutes of the Cypriot Church, Met. Tychikos appealed the decision against him to the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Although the Constantinople Synod acknowledged that the provisions of the Cypriot Church statutes were violated in the action taken against Met. Tychikos, it nevertheless upheld the Cypriot decision.
Met. Tychikos’ supporters believe he is being punished for his traditional stances on matters such as ecumenism and receiving converts by Baptism. The Archbishop has also spoken about how he feels personally betrayed by the Metropolitan, with whom he used to be close.
In early January, the Cypriot Synod further decided to indefinitely suspend Met. Tychikos from serving, saying his suspension could be lifted if he signed a specific confession of faith drafted by the Synod and promised not to bring the matter of his removal before the civil courts.
The Metropolitan has also appealed his suspension to Constantinople. According to his lawyers, the appeal freezes his suspension. Met. Tychikos also again denied the Archbishop’s accusations that he has come under the influence of extremists.
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