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Orthodox Observer - July 1999

To Remember Cyprus *)

To the Reverend Clergy, the Monks and Nuns, the Parish Councils of the Greek Orthodox Communities, the Greek Day and Afternoon Schools, the Philoptochos Sisterhoods, the Greek Organizations and Societies, the Youth, and all devout Christians of the Holy Archdiocese of America

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

"How long, O God, shall the enemy utter reproaches?
Shall the adversary blaspheme Your Name forever?"

Psalm 73:10.

For twenty-five years, Cyprus has waited. She has waited to see the faces of her missing sons and daughters reappear once again. She has waited to worship once more in the holy churches and chapels that evil men have desecrated. She has waited for her people to return and reclaim their plundered homes and villages. She has waited for the world to acknowledge her loss and vindicate her claims. She has waited for the day of justice and restoration.

Twenty-five years ago this month, Cyprus was invaded by a foreign aggressor in a brutal campaign of terror that resulted in the domination and occupation of the northern third of the island. Tens of thousands of Greek Cypriots were uprooted from their homes and made to flee as refugees. Many thousands were killed, maimed, and raped in the brutish onslaught. Thousands of other Greek Cypriots were made to "disappear" by the Turkish army, of whom some 1619 are still unaccounted for. The ensuing reign of terror in the occupied territory has brought forth a continual stream of atrocities and human-rights abuses, to which the Western world has largely turned a blind eye.

But this heartless and senseless campaign of violence is surpassed, if possible, by the strategy of absolute negation on the part of the oppressors. For twenty-five years they have engaged in a calculated effort to erase every trace of the Cypriot Hellenic heritage from the occupied territory. They have systematically dismantled and defiled the Christian heritage that Cyprus has known for two thousand years. They have sought to remove every vestige of the Hellenic civilization that has inhabited Cyprus for the last nine thousand years. The occupiers would persuade the very land itself, as it were, to forget the nation and the people who inhabited and cultivated it for countless centuries.

But Cyprus will not forget. The land, the mountains, the rivers, and the cities will not forget the rightful names which have lately been denied to them. The churches and shrines of the saints will not forget the holiness which the Spirit of God has bestowed upon them. The people of Cyprus will not forget the homes and farms which have been stolen from them. The mothers and fathers of Cyprus will not forget the 1619 children who have been taken from their arms. The faithful of Cyprus will not forget the memory of those whose lives were lost in the battle against the invading hordes. Above all, the Lord of heaven and earth will not forget His suffering people, but will yet arise and have pity on them and take up their cause.

My beloved Spiritual Children,

We too must not forget. We must remember the tragedy of our brothers and sisters of Cyprus. We must watch and pray with them through this dark night of grief and suffering. We must raise our voices and cry out for peace and justice. We must demand on their behalf an accounting of the fate of the "disappeared." We must call for an end to the desecration of churches and shrines and the shameful and illegal merchandising of sacred vessels and icons. For how can we not raise our voices in grief -when we hear that the Church of the Holy Virgin Chryseleousa has been converted into a mosque, that the Church of the Archangel Michael has been left open to despoilment by looters, that the Church of Saint Auxentios has been pillaged and stripped of its interior iconography? How can we not cry out to heaven, "How long, O God? Shall the adversary blaspheme Your Name forever?"

We must therefore call for the world to shake off its indifference and self interest, to find a truly peaceful solution in place of the non-solution of partition. We have seen in recent months the world's might brought to bear in Yugoslavia. What about Cyprus? Let us pray that the world might finally recognize the betrayal of Cyprus's rights and come together at last on her behalf for justice and peace after these twenty-five long years of waiting.

I ask all of you to join me in prayer and fasting, seeking the help and intervention of Almighty God for our brothers and sisters in Cyprus. I therefore paternally exhort all parishes of our Holy Archdiocese of America to commemorate the solemn anniversary of the invasion of Cyprus with a special Memorial Service to be held on Sunday, July 18, 1999.

With paternal love in Christ,

[ signed: † Archbishop Spyridon ]

Archbishop of America

[ Orthodox Observer, Vol. 64 - No. 1163 - July 1999 - p. 8 ]


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*)  Encyclical on the 25th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of the Republic of Cyprus (July 23, 1999)