Patriarch Kirill wishes peace to Cyprus Orthodox Christians, Muslims
Paralimni (Cyprus), June 9, Interfax – Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has promised to the people of Cyprus to promote the settlement of the issue of Cyprus division.
“When the Church does important things such as peacekeeping, it does not just enter politics as some ordinary secular force, it aspires to bring morals into politics as well,” Patriarch Kirill said after serving a prayer in the Metropolitan St. George Cathedral in Paralimni, Cyprus.
The Patriarch said injustice, including in relations between peoples, “stings Christians’ hearts.”
“I assure you that the Russian Church, which adheres to peace and justice, will conduct its peacekeeping service, including looking at the devastated city of Famagusta (Cypriot city occupied by Turks in 1974),” the Patriarch said.
Patriarch Kirill wishes that the Famagusta refugees’ hopes for a divine liturgy to be served in St. Nicholas Cathedral in Famagusta will become a reality soon.
Before Paralimni, the patriarch visited the Derinia District, where he looked at the city from a watchtower.
Paralimni and Famagusta are located several kilometers away from each other.
“We will pray for peace and justice to be established between the peoples of the Eastern Mediterranean. We will pray for Orthodox Christians and Muslims to live near each other in mutual respect, at least like it was in 1972. I saw it with my own eyes,” Patriarch Kirill said.
Patriarch Kirill said he visited this place 40 years ago when he was an archimandrite and was accompanying the now deceased Patriarch Pimen and still remembers the flourishing Famagusta.
“When I look at Famagusta now, I see a different picture: a desolate city, a ghost city, a city with no life. I understand how this hurts every person on Cyprus. It hurts those who were born and lived in these places the most,” he said.
