Nicosia, May 27, 2026
Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr
The Holy Synod of the Church of Cyprus elected Archimandrite Grigorios (Ioannidis) as the new Metropolitan of Paphos yesterday, May 26, filling a see that has been vacant for over a year following one of the most contentious ecclesiastical disputes in the island Church’s recent history.
Fr. Grigorios, who serves as Protosyngellos of the Diocese of Trimythous and Dean of the Theological School of the Church of Cyprus, received 11 of the 16 votes cast, reports the Orthodoxia News Agency.
His consecration as bishop and enthronement as Metropolitan of Paphos will take place on June 11.
Fr. Grigorios holds a degree in theology from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, as well as a master’s degree and doctorate from the Pontificio Istituto Orientale in Rome, specializing in Eastern ecclesiastical sciences with a focus on liturgics. He served as a postdoctoral Summer Fellow at Harvard’s Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies, where his research focused on the Byzantine liturgical tradition in Cyprus.
The Paphos see fell vacant in May 2025 when the Holy Synod voted ten-to-six to remove Metropolitan Tychikos following a prolonged series of conflicts with Archbishop Georgios over theological and ecumenical disputes—among them his refusal to receive in his diocese the relics of the Apostle Paul on a Vatican-arranged visit, objecting to the planned participation of Catholic clergy in the ceremony.
Met. Tychikos pursued multiple avenues of appeal. In October 2025, the Holy Synod of Constantinople reviewed his appeal and ultimately rejected it, though the body acknowledged that procedural omissions had occurred during his trial in the Cypriot Synod. He subsequently sought recourse in the civil courts of Cyprus, but the Supreme Court of Cyprus ruled against him. The Church of Cyprus declared the matter closed.
The election came just days after the Holy Synod unanimously approved a sweeping new Statutory Charter whose central change removes the laity from the process of nominating candidates for vacant sees, leaving elections entirely in the Synod’s hands.
Critics noted that the reform was approved and immediately applied to the Paphos election, with supporters of Met. Tychikos arguing it was designed to prevent hierarchs of a more traditional bent from being elected in future. The Diocese of Paphos carries particular weight in the Cypriot Church: Archbishop Georgios and his two predecessors all served as its Metropolitan before ascending to the Archepiscopal throne.
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