Church appeal to the Phanar by Metropolitan of Paphos – The reaction of the Church of Cyprus

Metropolitan Tychikos has filed a church appeal to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, following the decision of the Holy Synod of the Church of Cyprus on 22 May 2025, to relieve him of his duties in the Metropolis of Paphos.

The multi-page church appeal, submitted yesterday to the Secretariat of the Holy Synod, activates the highest legal recourse provided under Article 81 of the Church of Cyprus’s Charter. This article grants any hierarch who is deposed or removed from office the right to appeal to the Ecumenical Patriarch – a provision that also applies within the Church of Greece.

According to the Charter and Canon Law, filing a church appeal automatically suspends the execution of relevant synodal decisions until the Ecumenical Patriarchate reviews the case. According to these sources, Tychikos remains the canonical Metropolitan of Paphos; therefore, the Holy Synod cannot proceed with electing a new Metropolitan for that see.

According to the Charter, this development also results in the termination of the Archbishop of Cyprus’s role as locum tenens of the Metropolis of Paphos.

The Church of Cyprus issued the following clarifications following the church appeal filed by former Metropolitan Tychikos of Paphos:

“Since there has been media commentary concerning the suspension of the Holy Synod’s decision, the continued presence of Metropolitan Tychikos on the throne of the Metropolis of Paphos, and the termination of the Archbishop’s role as locum tenens, based on the Church’s Charter, we hereby clarify the following:

First, a hierarch sentenced to a penalty involving the deprivation of the priesthood, removal from the throne, or suspension leading to removal has the right to file a church appeal with the Ecumenical Patriarchate (Article 81). (Article 81).

Second, only penalties of deposition (defrocking) and major excommunication justify suspending the penalty during the appeal period and until a final decision is issued. (Criminal Procedure, Part B, Article 46; see also Article 82 of the Charter).

The Holy Synod of the Church of Cyprus imposed the penalty of removal from administrative and pastoral duties on Bishop Tychikos for canonical reasons, while retaining him conditionally in the episcopal office. Since he has not been subjected to deposition or major excommunication, the decision of the Holy Synod does not carry a suspensive effect.

Accordingly, His Beatitude Archbishop Georgios of Cyprus, remains the locum tenens of the metropolitan throne of Paphos.”