AS ROMAN Catholics from across the region prepare to descend on Cyprus en masse this June to greet His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, the pressure is on to ensure security measures and general sprucing up are completed on schedule. Security is always the biggest headache for any high-profile visit, but in this case it’s even more of a challenge.
The Pope will be staying at the friary of the Holy Cross Church, which lies partially in the buffer zone near Paphos Gate in Nicosia and partially in the Turkish occupied area of northern Nicosia.
Surrounding the friary and church are empty, decaying buildings, piles of disintegrating sandbags, and narrow streets, not all of which are controlled either by the government or the UN Peacekeeping Forces.
Father Umberto Barato, Vicar General for Cyprus of the Latin Patriarchate and Attaché of the Apostolic Nuncio, explained why the Pope would be staying at his “house” during his visit.
“The friary is the seat of the Apostolic Nunciature to Cyprus,” he said, adding that the Nunciature was the residence of the person sent by the Vatican to a country.
“So the Pope always stays in the Apostolic Nunciature of a country as it’s his house,” he said.
All of which explains the renovations currently being carried out both at the friary and the church next door.
“When the announcement of the Pope’s visit was made, the superiors from Jerusalem thought it would be convenient and the right time to restore the house [where the priests and brothers live] which was built in 1959 to 1960.”
The Italian priest said the building had never really been touched since or modernised and that things such as the electrical wiring was a “shambles”.
“So much so that the electrician said it was very dangerous and we could have had a fire,” he said.
“So the superiors thought it was high time to restore the house and also to present a better house to the Pope and his entourage.”
Changes include double glazing being added to the doors and windows.
The room allocated for the Pope is normally the common room of the friary which will “naturally be furnished a bit better, but nothing else”, the priest said.
Father Umberto said the community has taken advantage of the Pope’s visit to also carry out improvements to the adjacent church.
“There was a leak on the roof and some bits of the paintings on the ceiling are being touched up. Now we will put scaffolding to repair everything and maybe the lights will be changed and the microphone and loudspeakers,” he said.
Whilst the renovations are carried out Father Umberto and another priest are staying at the Terra Santa College in Nicosia, although Father Umberto does continue to work out of his friary office every day.
Twelve of the Pope’s 30-member entourage – which include Vatican police and two Swiss Guards - will stay at the friary including his secretary, guards and a doctor. The rest will stay in a hotel.
Benedict XVI is expected to arrive in Paphos on the afternoon of June 4 where he will be met by Archbishop Chrysostomos II and President Demetris Christofias.
From there the group will go to Chrysopolitissa Church where a small ecumenical ceremony will be held before coming to Nicosia.
He will leave from Larnaca airport on the afternoon of June 6.
Father Umberto admitted that security is a concern because the friary was located in the buffer zone.
“The United Nations is involved, as are local police and Vatican police. They will meet next Monday to discuss what to do,” he said.
A police spokeswoman confirmed the impending meeting and said the Police Headquarters Operations Office would be handling the Pope’s security during his visit, but that no action plan had been drawn up yet.
“I don’t know if they will close off roads around the house. It depends on the local police, the security and government,” added Father Umberto.
The Finance Ministry and Press and Information Office (PIO) were unwilling last week to comment on arrangements, saying that they had to wait formal announcements by the Vatican and the government.
Father Umberto said the issue of upgrading the area surrounding the friary, has also been discussed.
“But this is up to the UN and the local authorities,” he said.
A central committee of management and coordination has been set up, he added.
The chairman is Monsignor Ioussif Soueif, the archbishop of the Maronites of Cyprus with Father Umberto as the deputy chairman.
The committee coordinates about ten commissions – made up of priests, sisters, religious and lay volunteers – who will take on the various organisational aspects together with the local authorities.
The parish priest said the Pope was visiting the country at the invitation of the Archbishop of Cyprus and the president.
“He will visit the President and the Archbishop with his Synod of the Church of Cyprus,” he said.
“But also he comes here to meet the Catholic Patriarchs, Archbishops and Bishops of the Middle East to give them the Instrumentum Laboris, a booklet that the Vatican has prepared for the coming of the Synod of the Middle East next October in the Vatican in Rome.”
The clergymen are coming from the Middle East including Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, Alexandria and possibly Iran.
“He will give them the Instrumentum Laboris during the mass on Sunday,” said Father Umberto.
Although he could not verify where the mass would be held at this stage, he estimated thousands would attend.
“We expect about 15,000 to 20,000 people for the mass including all the immigrants, people from Lebanon and Palestine and so on,” he said.
Cyprus’ location is crucial to this aspect of the visit.
“Cyprus is not the Middle East but it is a door to the Middle East and all the Patriarchs, Archbishops and Bishops can come to Cyprus,” said Father Umberto.
“Last year they couldn’t all go to Israel, for instance the ones who live in Syria and Lebanon. It is a neutral country here and they can come from all over.”
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