NICOSIA - The head of the Cyprus Orthodox Church, Archbishop Chrysostomos, has been compelled to withdraw his allegation that the people's candidate for bishop of Morphou was homosexual, writes Michael Jansen. The Church's Holy Synod has also been obliged to drop all charges against Archimandrite Pancratios Meraklis preventing his election to the bishopric.
The archimandrite was permitted to resume his pastoral duties but was censured for shedding his priestly cassock (while conducting his ministry among AIDS patients) and encouraging his flock to revolt against their bishops. A compromise, reached by an abbot and two theology professors, ended a crisis during which the archbishop alienated 89 per cent of Greek Cypriots.
