CYPRUS
Cyprus Mail
ACTING Church head, Bishop Chrysostomos of Paphos, yesterday declined to comment on a transcript of a conversation in which he appeared to be talking about the sexual exploits of a bishop and a number of monks.
The transcript, published by Politis, had the outspoken cleric casually naming this or that priest as a “pervert” and giving the impression that this was common knowledge among ecclesiastics both in Cyprus and in Greece. The other participant in the conversation was said to be Archbishop Chrysostomos himself.
One of the names that came up was that of Limassol bishop Athanassios, who was reportedly friends with other monks of similar sexual inclination at a monastery in Greece. One cleric in particular, described as the “Old Man”, was said to be in the company of a group of young boys, probably apprentices.
In one instance, it was said that Archbishop Chrysostomos had conceded to his Paphos namesake that he was none too happy with appointing Athanassios, but also hinted that he would find ways to remove him if things got out of hand in the future.
Smut notwithstanding, the above discussions were in fact about Church politics, with the Archbishop and Chrysostomos deploring the lack of capable or charismatic leaders.