Cyprus’ Orthodox Church feels cash crunch
21/8/2012
NICOSIA, Cyprus: The leader of Cyprus’ Orthodox Christian Church says senior clergy and staff earning over (euro) 2,000 ($2,460) a month are in for salary cuts as the island nation’s ongoing financial crisis has seen church revenue dwindle.
Archbishop Chrysostomos II told state broadcaster CyBC Tuesday that the church’s top decision-making body, the Holy Synod, will convene next month to enact the cuts.
But he said the church will forego cuts to junior priests who “earn just enough to get by on.”
Although the church is the biggest landowner after the government and hold stakes in many businesses, its revenue has suffered as the country grapples with a cash crunch.
Cyprus in June became the fifth eurozone member to seek an international bailout in order to shore up its Greece-exposed banks.
