Politis

Holy Synod Decides on Charter Revision, Christmas Weddings, and Prayers for Cyprus

Published January 14, 2026, 13:29
Holy Synod Decides on Charter Revision, Christmas Weddings, and Prayers for Cyprus

The Holy Synod of the Church of Cyprus unanimously decided to restructure or rewrite its Charter, due to ambiguities and difficulties in its implementation. A Drafting Committee, comprising Synod members and legal experts, will be established for this purpose, and the Vicariate of the Holy Metropolis of Paphos will be extended to allow time for the completion of the process. One of the issues to be examined is the change in the election process of Metropolitans, with the possibility of direct election by the Holy Synod. Furthermore, the Synod deemed the actions of the defrocked clergy of the Holy Monastery of St. Abbakum as invalid and without effect, stating that they do not offer any spiritual grace. There has been no recent development in the case of Metropolitan Tychikos, as there has been no official update regarding his appeal to the civil court. The Holy Synod also decided to allow the celebration of marriages during the Christmas Lent, until December 12th. This decision was unanimous. Finally, it approved the Archbishop's proposal for the composition of supplication hymns related to the Cyprus issue, which will be added to the Lamentations of Good Friday. The entire process is expected to take several months.