Lawyer questions legality of Church procedures
The legal challenge intensified after the lawyer of former Bishop of Paphos Tychikos openly questioned the legality of actions taken by the Holy Synod and the Archbishopric of Cyprus, citing serious breaches of Church law and the Church of Cyprus statute.
Speaking on the television programme “Protoselido”, lawyer Ireneos Antoniou Giakoumakis said that after the Holy Synod’s decision of 22 May concerning Bishop Tychikos, the Church followed no legally or canonically established procedure. He argued that the Holy Synod bypassed both the Holy Canons and the constitutional charter of the Church of Cyprus, a move he said makes the decision constitutionally unacceptable under the laws of the Republic of Cyprus.
Developments after the 22 May decision
Giakoumakis said that even before the Ecumenical Patriarchate ruled on Tychikos’ appeal, the Archbishop asked the Bishop to leave the Paphos Metropolis. Tychikos complied and handed over all administrative premises to the locum tenens, a role the Archbishop reserved for himself.
From that moment, the Archbishop exercised the duties of locum tenens. Giakoumakis stressed, however, that the Holy Canons strictly limit this role to the management of urgent and routine matters. He said the locum tenens cannot take substantive administrative decisions, remove individuals from office, create binding commitments, or act beyond the temporary nature of the role until the Metropolis receives a new Metropolitan.
Ecumenical Patriarchate decision cited
The lawyer placed strong emphasis on the decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which he said identified serious procedural omissions by the Holy Synod. According to Giakoumakis, this finding activates a specific provision of the Church of Cyprus statute, contained in the Ecclesiastical Criminal Procedure rules, which requires authorities to repeat the process when they commit a substantial procedural violation or consciously breach their duties.
He added that the same provision allows either ecclesiastical or state judicial authorities to establish such violations.
Objection to the suspension of Tychikos
Despite this framework, Giakoumakis said the Archbishopric committed a second breach of the statute by imposing a suspension on Bishop Tychikos because he turned to civil justice. He stressed that both the Holy Canons and the Church statute explicitly allow such recourse and do not treat it as a disciplinary offence.
Asked whether civil courts can intervene in Church affairs, the lawyer clarified that courts do not replace the Church in deciding substantive matters. Instead, they examine whether authorities respected fundamental rights and principles of natural justice, including the right to a fair trial and proper procedure.
He referred to Supreme Constitutional Court case law in the Avvakoum Monastery case, where the court examined whether authorities observed basic procedural safeguards.
Claims of denied defence rights
Giakoumakis argued that the Tychikos case differs significantly because Church authorities followed none of the statute’s provisions. He said the Holy Synod acted as a court without giving the Bishop a meaningful right of defence, without calling witnesses, without presenting evidence, and without issuing a clear charge.
On the suspension, he said authorities imposed it again through an incorrect procedure. Because an appeal remains pending, he argued, the suspension cannot produce legal effects until the Ecumenical Patriarch issues a ruling. He explained that the appeal mechanism exists to remedy harm caused by a first-instance ecclesiastical decision, not to delay proceedings.
Finality and Synod composition questioned
Giakoumakis also said that as long as the appeal remains pending, the Church of Cyprus decision lacks finality. If Tychikos turned immediately to civil justice, he added, a court would likely ask why he did not first exhaust internal ecclesiastical remedies.
Referring to the composition of the Holy Synod on 22 May, Giakoumakis said ten members voted in favour of removing the Bishop and six voted against. He argued that this split makes it impossible to form an impartial twelve-member body to examine any potential breach of duty by those who supported the decision.
Wider implications for the Church
Giakoumakis concluded that the case goes beyond Bishop Tychikos as an individual and concerns the Church of Cyprus and its faithful as a whole. He said justice must prevail so that, as he put it, “the prayer of every believer has content and meaning”.
Also read: Paphos Metropolis protest for Tychikos sees police intervention
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