The 94th Archbishop of Cyprus and New Ioustinianian was born on the 10th April 1941 in our picturesque village, the village of Tala in Paphos.
His first name, Herodotus Demetriou went to Primary School in Tala. After that, he became a noviciate at the Monastery of Saint Neophytos.
He then went to High School in Paphos. On the 3rd of November 1963, after graduating from High School, he was ordained Deacon by Georgios, the Eparch of Trimithounta.
After that, he was the provost of the church dedicated to Saint Neophytos for five years, 1963-1968.
In 1968 he went to study Theology in Athens. He graduated in 1972.
On the 19th October 1971 he was elected superior (abbot) of Saint Neophytos Church. He was then ordained dean and on the 12th November he was established Abbot of the Church by Archbishop Makarios III.
On the 25th February 1978 he was orally elected Eparch of Paphos and on the 26th he was ordained Bishop.
In May 2006, the Extended Assembly conducted by Bartholomew the Ecumenical Patriarch, named the archiepiscopal throne of Cyprus empty, as Archbishop Chrysostomos I was irreversibly ill. After the election that was completed in November 2006, Chysostomos II was indicated new Archbishop.
Specifically, during the third and last voting of the Elective Committee that took place on the 5th November, Chrysostomos raised 73 votes and the other candidate, Athanassios the Eparch of Limassol, 57 votes. One vote was null and void.
Right after the election, the new Archbishop mentioned that “as of today, a new breeze will blow in the Archiepiscopate” in his speech.
 The magnificent enthronement ceremony for Archbishop Chrysostomos II took place on the 12th November 2006, in Saint John Cathedral in Nicosia. He has bestowed the imperial privileges, which we firstly bestowed to the Archbishop of Cyprus during the 5th century by the Byzantine emperor Zenon. To be more specific, Chrysostomos of Kiti, the superior of all Hierarchs, bestowed the new Archbishop with the following:
a) to sign using red ink
b) to wear a purple cloak
c) to hold an imperial scepter instead of the Episcopal stick.
 The Archbishop of Thyateira Gregorios and the Eparch of Sasima Gennadios attended the ceremony as representatives of Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch. The Church of Greece was represented by Athens Archbishop, Christodoulos. What is more, representatives of all Orthodox Patriarchies and Autocephalous Churches attended the glorious ceremony.
What is more, the president of the Republic of Cyprus, the president of the House of Representatives, chiefs of political parties, ministers, officials of the Republic of Cyprus and representatives of the Greek government attended the ceremony.
People and Church named him “worthy” of being Archbishop.
 The Archbishop stressed that the church will cooperate with and fight side by side with the government in all sectors. The church will be right next to clergy and laity. Specifically, the Archbishop mentioned that “the Archiepiscopate is not an impenetrable castle, in which the Archbishop will be confined” and that “the Archiepiscopate is your house par excellence, to which you can come when you wish”.
Concluding, it is worth mentioning that Tala welcomed the new Archbishop with palm and olive tree branches, right after his election. An abstract from “Phileleftheros” newspaper (6th November 2006) follows:
“Paphos welcomed Archbishop Chrysostomos II with bells ringing and celebrating last night. At the same time, around eight o’ clock, at the square of his village Tala, a great feast with souvla and zivania took place. They celebrated the success of their child, the child of a small community that became the Archbishop of Cyprus. His dream, that Crysostomos would be the next Archbishop, came true”.
Sources:
Cyprus News Agency
Press and Information Office
Relevant Articles from the Press
|
