Religion in Cyprus

Church of Ayios Lazaros in Larnaca

Christians make up 78% of the Cypriot population. Most Greek Cypriots, and thus the majority of the population of Cyprus, are members of the Autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus (Church of Cyprus), whereas most Turkish Cypriots are Muslim. According to Eurobarometer 2005 ^[1], Cyprus is one of the most religious countries in Europe, along with Turkey, Malta, Romania, Greece and Poland. In addition to the Orthodox Christian and Muslim communities, there are also small Baha'i, Jewish, Protestant, Roman Catholic, Maronite (Eastern Rites Catholic) and Armenian Apostolic communities in Cyprus.

Christianity

Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus

Main article: Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus

Ayia Napa Monastery

The most important church in Cyprus, the Church of Cyprus, is an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the Orthodox tradition using the Greek liturgy. It recognized the seniority and prestige of the ecumenical patriarch in Constantinople, while retaining complete administrative autonomy under its own archbishop. The Great Schism, as the split between Catholic and Orthodox became known, had major consequences for the Church of Cyprus. Under Lusignan and Venetian rule, the Church of Cyprus was pressured to recognize the authority of the Roman pope. The imposed Roman hierarchy attempted to remold the Church of Cyprus in the image of the Western church. Under the Muslim Ottomans, Cypriots were no longer considered schismatics, but merely unbelievers and followers of an inferior religion. As such they were allowed considerable autonomy, and the archbishop was the officially recognized secular as well as religious leader of his community. Under the British, there was an attempt to secularize all public institutions, but this move was bitterly opposed by church authorities, who used the conflict with the state to gain leadership of the Greek nationalist movement against colonial rule. At independence Archbishop Makarios III, a young, Western-educated former monk, was elected president of the republic, holding this position until his death in 1977. His successor, Archbishop Chrysostomos, was still head of the Church of Cyprus at the beginning of the 1990s. He was a conservative leader, both in religious and political matters, well-suited for a church that had never undergone reforms similar to those instituted by the Second Vatican Council for the Roman Catholic Church.

Ayia Paraskevi byzantine church in Yeroskipou

The church had long been composed of four episcopal sees: the archbishopric of Nicosia, and the metropolitanates of Paphos, Kition, and Kyrenia. New metropolitanates were created by Makarios in 1973 for Limassol and Morphou, with a suffragan, or assistant, bishop in Salamis under the archbishop. A bishop had to be a graduate of the Orthodox theological seminary in Greece and be at least thirty years of age. Since Orthodox bishops were sworn to a vow of celibacy and parish clergy were usually married, bishops were recruits from monasteries rather than parish churches. Bishops were not appointed by the archbishop, but, like him, were elected through a system granting representation to laymen, other bishops, abbots, and regular clergy.

Individual churches, monasteries, dioceses, and charitable educational institutions organized by the Church of Cyprus were independent legal persons enjoying such rights and obligations as holding property. In exchange for many church lands acquired by the government, the government assumed responsibility for church salaries. Parish clergy, traditionally married men chosen by their fellow villagers, were sent for brief training before ordination. In the twentieth century, modernizers, most notably Archbishop Makarios, were instrumental in strengthening the quality and training of priests at the Cypriot seminary in Nicosia.

The monasteries of Cyprus had always been very important to the Church of Cyprus. By the twentieth century many had long lain in ruins, but their properties were among the most important holdings of the church, the island's largest landowner. Although the number of monks decreased in the postwar era, in the early 1990s there were at least ten active monasteries in the government-controlled areas.

In the Orthodox church, ritual was to a great extent the center of the church's activity, for Orthodox doctrine emphasizes the mystery of God's grace rather than salvation through works and knowledge. Seven sacraments are recognized: baptism in infancy, followed by confirmation with consecrated oil, penance, the Eucharist, matrimony, ordination, and unction in times of sickness or when near death.

Formal services are lengthy and colorful, with singing, incense, and elaborate vestments according to the occasion for the presiding priest. The veneration of icons is done often, located on the church's walls and often covered with offerings of the faithful, is highly developed. Easter is the focus of the church year, closing the Lenten fasting with an Pascha Easter Eve vigil and procession. Marriage is a highly ritualized occasion. Formal divorce proceedings are required for broken engagements that have been ratified by the church. The wedding sponsors play an important role in the family, for they usually act as godparents of all children born of that union.

Religious observance varied. In traditional rural villages, women attended services more frequently than men, and elderly family members were usually responsible for fulfilling religious duties on behalf of the whole family. Church attendance was less frequent in urban areas and among educated Cypriots. For much of the population, religion centered on rituals at home, veneration of icons, and observance of certain feast days of the Orthodox calendar.

Maronite

Main article: Maronite Church

Cyprus holds a minority (but important compared to other religions) of Maronites (Eastern Rites Catholic), the population's up to 20,000.^{[citation needed]} The origin of the Maronite church is from Lebanon.

Roman Catholicism

Main article: Roman Catholicism in Cyprus

The Roman Catholic Church in Cyprus is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome. There are around 10,000 Catholic faithful in Cyprus, corresponding to just over 1% of the total population. Most Catholic worshipers are either Maronites under their Archbishop, or Latins, under the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, with a Patriarchal Vicar General. Maronites are christian.

Islam

Main article: Islam in Cyprus

Mosque in Nicosia

Muslims make up about 18% of the Cypriot population.

Islam was first introduced to Cyprus when Uthman, the third Caliph of the Arab Rashidun Empire, conquered the island in 649. Cyprus remained a disputed territory between the Greeks and Arabs for the following centuries, until it passed to Latin authority during the Crusades. The island was conquered by the Ottoman general Lala Mustafa Pasha from the Venetians in 1570. This conquest brought with it Turkish settlement from 1571 till 1878. During the 17th century especially, the Muslim population of the island grew rapidly, partly because of Turkish immigrants but also due to Greek converts to Islam.

Nowadays, the overwhelming majority of the islands Muslims are Turkish-speaking and adhere to the Sunni branch of Islam. Sufism also plays an important role. Historically, Muslims were spread over the whole of Cyprus, but since 1974 they live primarily in the north.

Several important Islamic shrines and landmarks exist on the island including:

• The Arabahmet Mosque in Nicosia (built in the 16th century)
• The Hala Sultan Tekke/Umm Haram Mosque in Larnaca (built in the 18th century)
• The Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque, Selimiye Mosque and the Haydarpasha Mosque; former Catholic cathedrals left from the Crusader era, which were meant to cater exclusively to the Catholic minority which ruled the island and were converted to mosques after the Muslim conquest in the Middle Ages.

Hinduism

Main article: Hinduism in Cyprus

Many of Cyprus's 2000 Indian residents are Hindu.

Judaism

Main article: History of the Jews in Cyprus

Jewish history in Cyprus dates back centuries. Today, approximately 1800 Cypriots are Jewish.

References

1. ^ http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf Social values, Science and technology. Eurobarometer 2005. TNS Opinion & Social

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Library of Congress Country Studies.

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