ARCHBISHOP Chrysostomos has played down reports that he had offered antiquities to Pope Benedict on his recent trip to the Vatican without the Republic’s consent.“We are not stupid enough to do something like that,” he told CyBC 1 on Tuesday, following his return to Cyprus and a meeting with President Tassos Papadopoulos.
Reports from inside the Church said the icons dated back to the 17th century and were hand-made by the Archbishopric’s official holy icon painter, Pavlos.
The Archbishop admitted it was wrong to offer the gifts without receiving permission from the Antiquities Department, which is necessary for any pre-1940s artefact to leave the country.
The law strictly forbids any member of the Cyprus Republic, no matter what their status, to export antiquities. Such an offence carries a three-year prison sentence and/or a £1,500 fine, while the Republic has the right to request the return of the antiquity with a court order.
In his CyBC interview, the Archbishop wondered what the fuss was over.
He said if there are 100 icons of the same type, parting with one of them would not mean anything to the Church of Cyprus.
He then condemned the church insider who aired the information. “This is a person within the Archbishopric, the name of whom is of no significance as people don't know him.”
Chrysostomos publicly promised to oust the specific person from the Archbishopric.
Either way, the matter has not gone unnoticed by the state’s politicians, with the Green Party’s George Perdikis requesting Parliament be informed by the government on the procedures followed to export the icon.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce