A report from a newspaper in Cyprus...
Chrysostomos seeks Pope's help
about fee charged by Turkish Cypriots
to visit a Greek Orthodox monastery
in Turkish-occupied north Cyprus
Mar 29, 2011
Pope Benedict XVI has assured the primate of the Church of Cyprus Archbishop Chrysostomos II that he will help in any way possible to reverse a Turkish Cypriot demand for an admission fee to enter a Greek Orthodox monastery, in Turkish-occupied north Cyprus.
The illegal Turkish Cypriot regime, which no country except Turkey recognises, imposes an admission fee on pilgrims who visit the Apostle Andrew's Monastery in the Karpass peninsula.
Archbishop Chrysostomos met the Pope on Monday in the Vatican and they also discussed the restoration of religious monuments and sites in the occupied areas of Cyprus.
“I have asked the Pope to work along with the powerful nations of Europe - Germany, Italy, France and Poland - who are also Catholic, in order to exert pressure on Turkey to terminate the pillage of our religious monuments in the occupied areas”, the Archbishop noted, adding that “I was very impressed because the Pope was aware of the situation in occupied Cyprus and knew all the details about the monastery".
Paolo Rodari has a story in today's Il Foglio, of what Chrysostomos II told Italian reporters after meeting the Pope. The Archbishop has always been known as very militant in defense of the rights of Greek Christians and Greek Cypriots in general, and he never misses an occasion to speak his mind.]
Cyprus Patriarch cites Regensburg lecture:
'If he could, Benedict XVI would
speak out against the tragedy in Cyprus'
by Paolo Rodari
Translated from
March 29, 2011
His Beatitude Chrysostomos II, Primate of the Orthodox Church in Cyprus (which was founded by the apostle Barnabas and is considered the
second most ancient Christian community after Jerusalem)[????]* spoke to newsmen shortly after visiting Benedict XVI at the Vatican yesterday and said:
"The reason for my visit was one thing alone: to ask for help from the Pope - and through him, from the European community - so that something may be done for Christians like us and elsewhere in the Middle East, who are forced to live under military regimes which, under the cloak of apparent democracy, merely intend to Islamize everything".
In 1974, Cyprus was invaded by Turkey, which subsequently occupied northern Cyprus and proclaimed it a sovereign country. Since then, the Greek Cypriots claim, the Turkish government has populated northern Cyprus with 'illegal' colonists on lands and property formerly belonging to Greek Cypriots who had to flee to the Greek part of the island in 1974.
Chrysostomos said: "In Europe there are those who think Turkey is a democratic country, which has been seeking to enter the European Union. I tell them: open your eyes. Come to Cyprus and see our churches destroyed [in north Cyprus] and reduced to pig sties, where no one can say Mass. No one among the Greek Cypriots is free to return to their own homes in north Cyprus. Is this democracy?"
The Primate said that Benedict XVI is very much abreast of the situation in Cyprus and the plight of Christian Cypriots. "If he could, he would raise his voice... (but) he realizes that fiery declarations will not serve anything. He knows that he cannot always publicly say what he wants to say [without fear of worse consequences for the very people concerned]
[I would call this the Pius XII dilemma!]... So he will help us in ways that he can."
He continued: "In 2006, in Regensburg, he was very clear: Islam should renounce violence, it must renounce using the name of God to justify religious hatred. I have met all the leaders of the Islamic Middle Eastern countries, and most of them have common sense. But are they capable of marginalizing extremist violence? Are they capable of holding down the preachers of hate who do form part of their communities?"
Commenting on the military action in Libya, he said:
"Often, the Western nations launch military actions in the name of defending human rights, as they did in Iraq and Afghanistan. And yet, without having to resort to arms, why don't these countries - who say they want to spread democracy - try to get Turkey to change? Why can they not make Turkey adopt a lifestyle that is truly modern and European?"
[Because, for strategic interests, NATO finds Turkey useful as a member and ally, and the Western world considers Turkey's government sufficiently democratic. However, Turkey's failure to guarantee religious freedom in Turkey itself has been one of the obstacles to its admission to the EU. If it cannot even give a juridical status to bartholomew I's Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate in Turkey, what will make it relent on its anti-Christian policy in Cyprus?]
Going on about the Cyprus situation, he observed: "In Italy, right now, you are rightly concerned about the arrival of thousands of refugees from Libya. But you can decide which strategy to take - to welcome them all or to send them back if the situation becomes unsustainable.
"But we have no choice. We cannot do anything. The Turks have occupied our houses and violated the places where our forefathers lived. The colonists from Turkey have occupied everything, including the houses of those Turkish Cypriots who were allowed to remain in their homes after the 1974 occupation.
"This is a grave injustice about which Islam should undertake an examination of conscience. As Islam advances, it takes more territory. In Cyprus, we are more directly exposed to this problem than the rest of Europe, but this is a problem that concerns all of Europe".
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 29/03/2011 22:25]