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{{church|
name=Church of Cyprus[[Image:Dikefalos Aetos.jpg|center|Church of Cyprus]]|
founder=St. [[Apostle Barnabas|Barnabas]]|
independence=431|
website=[http://www.churchofcyprus.org.cy/ Church of Cyprus]
}}
The Greek Orthodox '''Church of Cyprus''' is one of the [[autocephaly|autocephalous]] [[church]]es of the Orthodox Christian communion whose territory consists of the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea. Although through the centuries the island has been occupied by various parties, the church has retained its independence. The current [[primate]] is [[Archbishop]] [[Chrysostomos II (Demetriou) of Nea Justiniana|Chrysostomos II]] of Nea Justiniana and All Cyprus.
==History==
Christianity was originally brought to Cyprus by the [[Apostles]] [[Apostle Barnabas|Barnabas]] and [[Apostle Mark|Mark]] in the first century, c. 46AD and was under the jurisdiction of the [[Church of Jerusalem|Patriarchate of Jerusalem]] until 325. Apostle Barnabas is considered to be the first [[bishop]] of Cyprus. Its autocephaly was established at the [[Council of Ephesus]] in 431, overriding the claims of the [[Church of Antioch|Patriarch of Antioch]]. In 478, the grave of St. Barnabas was found, with a copy of the [[Gospel of Matthew]] on his [[relics]]. The autocephaly of the Church of Cyprus was confirmed later that year by the Roman Emperor Zeno who granted its Archbishop "three privileges," that is: to sign his name in ''cinnabar'', to wear purple instead of black under his [[vestments]], and to use an imperial scepter instead of the episcopal [[crosier]]. So now I would like piously to share with you spiritually this information I have discovered after St. Lazarus left Bethany, and lived on the island of Cyprus, and who eventually became a Bishop of Kition, which is now called Larnaca. The Virgin Mary the Theotokos also visited St. Lazarus while he was on the island on Cyprus. This information is presented at the end of this web site. The Orthodox Church in Cyprus was founded by St. Barnabas the Apostle in 46 A.D., and was under the Jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem up until 325, and then became Autocephalous in 413. The Episcopal Seat is under Archbishop Chrysostom of New Justina and Cyprus. The following are four Metropolitans of the island of Cyprus: Chrysostom of Paphos, Chrysostomos of Kition, and Paulos of Kerinya (occupied part, he is residing in Nicosia), and Chrysanthos of Limassol.
In 478, the grave of St. Barnabas was found, with a copy of the [[Gospel of Matthew]] on his [[relics]]. The autocephaly of the Church of Cyprus was confirmed later that year by the Roman Emperor [[Zeno (emperor)|Zeno]] who granted its Archbishop "three privileges," that is: to sign his name in ''cinnabar'', to wear purple instead of black under his [[vestments]], and to use an imperial scepter instead of the episcopal [[crosier]].
The Arab invasions of the seventh century forced the Archbishop to flee the island to Hellespont, where under the protection of Emperor [[Justinian II]] he established a new city called Nova Justiniana (now "Nea Justiniana") in honor of the emperor. In 698, the Arabs were driven out of Cyprus and the Archbishop returned to the island, but retained the title of Archbishop of Nova Justiniana and All Cyprus. With the occupation of Cyprus by the Crusades from 1191 to 1571, the Orthodox hierarchy found itself subordinated to the occupying Latin French and Venetian kings, who forced a reduction in the number of Orthodox bishops from 14 to four. Additionally, the Latin bishops attempted to gain concessions on the differences in doctrine and practices between the two churches.
As a consequence of an attempted military coup in 1974, Turkey invaded and occupied about a third of the island, forming an independent government, with almost all Orthodox moving to the remaining Greek portion of the island. Since then within the Turkish occupied part of the island, Orthodox property has sustained substantial damage. The Turkish occupied territories contain 514 churches, chapels, and monasteries.
==OrganizationStructure==The Archbishop's see is located in the city [[Image:Saints of Cyprus - Stavrovouni Monastery.jpg|right|thumb|Saints of NicosiaCyprus. The <br>(''[[primatew:Stavrovouni Monastery|primacyStavrovouni Monastery]]'')]] of the Church of Cyprus was until recently vacantHoly Archbishopric, with Lefkosia :His Beatitude the announcement of the retirement Archbishop of Archbishop [[Chrysostomos I II (KykkiotisDemetriou) of Nea Justiniana|Cyprus ChrysostomosII]] due to Alzheimer's disease, seat Nicosia. However:Bishops: *His Grace [[Christoforos of Karpasia|Christoforos]], the Church Bishop of Karpasia. *His Grace [[Porfyrios of CyprusNeapolis|Porfyrios]], on SundayBishop of Neapolis.*His Grace Gregorios, Bishop of Mesaoria Holy Bishopric of Paphos/Holy Metropolis of Paphos:Most Reverend [[November 6Georgios of Paphos|Georgios]], 2006Metropolitan of Paphos, elected her first new leader in 29 yearsseat Paphos.:Bishop: *His Grace Nektarios, Bishop of Arsinoi. Holy Bishopric of Kitiun/Holy Metropolis of Kitium:Most Reverend [[MetropolitanChrysostomos of Kition|Chrysostomos]] Chrysostomos , Metropolitan of PaphosKition, 65seat Larnaca. Holy Bishopric of Keryneia/Holy Metropolis of Kyreneia:Most Reverend Pavlos, was elected archbishop after winning a runoff vote against Metropolitan Athanasios of LemessouKyreneia, seat Kyreneia.<ref>[http:://www.financialmirror.com/more_news.php?id=5214&type=st&nt=Politics Paphos bishop elected head Due to the Turkish occupation of Keryneia, the Holy Bishopric of Cyprus church] November 5Keryneia, since 1974, 2006</ref>is temporarily located in Lefkosia.
===Hierarchical Succession of the Archbishopric See of Cyprus===
==Local saints==
The most famous of these is [[Apostle]] [[Apostle Barnabas|Barnabas]] ([[June 11]]) and [[Lazarus]].
{{churches}}
==Published Works=={{churches}}* Annemarie Weyl Carr. ''Byzantines and Italians on Cyprus: Images from Art.'' '''Dumbarton Oaks Papers'''. Vol.49, Symposium on Byzantium and the Italians, 13th-15thCenturies. 1995. pp.339-357.
==Reference==
<references />
==Source==
*[http://www.mfa.gov.cy/mfa/mfa2006.nsf/0e0d6c08a552d95ac22571450035a635/649241232fa0e831c22571a3002f8eea?OpenDocument Church Structure: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus]
==External links==
*[http://www.churchofcyprus.org.cy/ Orthodox Church of Cyprus], official site
*[http://www.cnewa.org/ecc-bodypg-usdefault.aspx?eccpageIDID=22&IndexViewpagetypeID=toc 9&sitecode=HQ&pageno=1 Eastern Christian Churches: Orthodox Church of Cyprus], a scholarly text by Ronald Roberson, CSP, a Roman Catholic priest and Eastern Christianity scholar
*[http://www.cyprus.gov.cy/cyphome/govhome.nsf/LookupIDs/56EFF47249680FF2C2256AA2004554CC?OpenDocument&languageNo=1 Cypriot Government site]
*[[Wikipedia:Cypriot Orthodox Church]]
*[http://www.scribd.com/doc/2036026/Bertil-Persson Apostolic Successions]
[[Category:Jurisdictions|Cyprus]]
[[es:Iglesia Ortodoxa de Chipre]]
[[fr:Église de Chypre]]
[[ro:Biserica Ortodoxă a Ciprului]]