The archbishop of Cyprus (officially the archbishop of Nova Justiniana and All Cyprus) is the head of the Church of Cyprus. Since 2023 the incumbent archbishop has been George III.
History According to tradition, the Church of Cyprus was founded by Saint Barnabas in 45 AD. Cyprus was under the jurisdiction of the Church of Jerusalem until 325. The Church of Cyprus was declared autocephalous on 30 July 431 by the Council of Ephesus. Its autocephaly was abolished in 1260 but restored in 1571.
Archbishops of Cyprus
First Autocephalous Period (325 (431) –1260) Gelasios I (325) Epiphanius of Salamis (368) Stavrinos I (403) Troilos (431) Reginos (431) Olympios I (449) Stavrinos II (457) Anthemios (470) Olympios II (During the reign of Justinian) Philoxenos (During the reign of Justinian) Damianos (During the reign of Justinian) Sophronios I (During the reign of Justinian) Gregorios (During the reign of Justinian) Arkadios (During the reign of Justinian) Theophanes I Plutarch (620) Arkadios II (630) Serghios (643) Epiphanios II (681) John I (691) George I (754)George was anathematized for his iconodule stance in 754. This sentence was reversed at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. See David Metcalf, Byzantine Cyprus, 491–1191 (Cyprus Research Centre, 2009), pp. 443–444. Constantine (783) Akakios (after 787) Gelasios II (after 787 and likely successor of Akakios) Theophanes II (early 9th century and likely successor of Gelasios Ii) John II (early 9th century and likely successor of Theophanes II and predecessor either of Barnabas or Epiphanios III) Epiphanios III (890) Basileos Nicholas, later Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople John III (1151) Barnabas II (1175) Sophronios II (1191) Isaias (1209) Neophytos I (1222) Germanos I (1260)Born George, his election was confirmed by Pope Innocent IV in February 1254. See Christopher Schabel, The Synodicum Nicosiense and Other Documents of the Latin Church of Cyprus, 1196–1373 (Cyprus Research Center, 2001), p. 65.
Non-autocephalous period (1260–1571) During the Lusignan and later Venetian rule from 1260 to 1571, the Church of Cyprus ceased to be autocephalous and came under the direct rule of the Papacy; its fourteen dioceses were reduced to four until after the Ottoman conquest in 1571, when the Ottomans, for expedient administrative reasons, restored to the Orthodox Church of Cyprus all its previous privileges and rights.
Second autocephalous period (1571–present) Image Name Term beganTerm endedTimotheos15721580Lavrentios15801592Neophytos II15921592Athanasios I15921600Benjamin16001606Christodoulos I16061641Nikephorus16411674Ilarion Kigalas16741682Christodoulos II16821691Jacob I16911695Germanos II16951705Athanasios II, later Patriarch of Antioch17051709Jacob II17091718Silvestre17181734Philotheos17341759Paissios17591767Chrysanthos17671810Kyprianos18101821Joachim18211824Damaskinos18241827Panaretos18271840Ioannikos18401849Kyrillos I18491854Makarios I18541865Sophronios III18651909Kyrillos II19091916 Kyrillos III19161933Leontios19471947 Makarios II19471950Makarios III, first President of the Republic of Cyprus19501977Chrysostomos I19772006Chrysostomos II20062022George2022incumbent
See also
Catholic Church in Cyprus
References