Paphos, Cyprus, February 10, 2026
Photo: eoneolaia.com
A group of faithful from Paphos, Cyprus, has issued a strongly worded public statement in defense of His Eminence Metropolitan Tychikos, who was removed from the Diocese of Paphos last year and later suspended, accusing the leadership of the Church of Cyprus of serious canonical and institutional violations.
In the text, titled “Church Without a Synod? Canonical Deviation and InstitutionalAauthoritarianism in the Church of Cyprus,” the signatories allege that Archbishop Georgios of Cyprus has acted unilaterally for months, bypassing the Holy Synod and undermining the conciliar system of governance that defines Orthodox ecclesiology.
Central to their complaint is the reported proposal that Met. Tychikos be transferred to the Archdiocese, housed in the former residence of the late Archbishop Chrysostomos, and assigned duties directly by the Archbishop. According to the statement, such a move would amount to an unprecedented canonical irregularity, effectively reducing a ruling metropolitan to a subordinate role.
The faithful argue that Orthodox canon law, citing the 34th Apostolic Canon, explicitly forbids unilateral action by a primate without the Synod, just as it forbids the Synod from acting without its primate. They contend that decisions announced and implemented by one individual amount to “personalized power” rather than synodal governance.
The text also raises institutional concerns, noting that Church statutes provide for assistant bishops to support the Archbishop, a role already filled. Assigning “duties” to a Metropolitan, they argue, is both unnecessary and irregular.
Beyond procedural issues, the statement accuses the Archbishop of having played multiple roles in the case against Met. Tychikos—accuser, investigator, judge, and beneficiary—casting doubt on claims that the proposed transfer was intended to offer him “protection.”
The authors conclude by warning that continued unilateral actions risk long-term institutional and spiritual damage. “The Church of Cyprus is not anyone’s property,” the statement reads, adding that the problem, in their view, is not the Met. of Paphos but the direction in which the Church itself is being led.
The statement is signed collectively as “The People of Paphos.”
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