The Archbishop of Cyprus (officially the Archbishop of Nova Justiniana and All

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

) is the head of the

Church of Cyprus The Church of Cyprus () is one of the autocephalous Greek Orthodox churches that together with other Eastern Orthodox churches form the communion of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is one of the oldest Eastern Orthodox autocephalous churches; ...

. The incumbent Archbishop is

George of Cyprus George of Cyprus (; Latinized as ''Georgius Cyprius'') was a Greek Byzantine geographer of the early seventh century. Nothing is known of his life save that he was a Byzantine Greek born at Lapithos in the island of Cyprus. He is known for his ...

since 2023.

History

According to tradition, the

was founded by St. Barnabas in 45 AD. The archdiocese of Cyprus has been an

autocephalous Autocephaly (; ) is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. The status has been compared with t ...

episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...

since 30 July 431 when it was declared by the

Council of Ephesus The Council of Ephesus was a council of Christian bishops convened in Ephesus (near present-day Selçuk in Turkey) in AD 431 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius II. This third ecumenical council, an effort to attain consensus in the church th ...

. This means that the Archbishop does not report to any higher member of the Church. Its autocephaly was abolished in 1260 but restored in 1571.

Archbishops of Cyprus

First Autocephalous Period (45–1260)

*Gelasios I (325) * Epifaniy

St. Epiphanios I (368) *Stavrinos I (403) *Troilos (431) *Reginos (431) *Olympios I (449) *Stavrinos II (457) * Anthemios (470) *Olympios II ''(During the reign of

Justinian Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

)'' *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 John I may refer to: People Religious figures * John I (bishop of Jerusalem) * John Chrysostom (349 – c. 407), Patriarch of Constantinople * John I of Antioch (died 441) * Pope John I of Alexandria, Coptic Pope from 496 to 505 * Pope John I, P ...

(691) *Georgios I (750) *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) *Vasilios *

Nikolaos Nikolaos (, ') is a common Greek given name which means "Victor of People", a compound of νίκη '' nikē'' 'victory' and λαός laos' 'people'. The connotation is "people's champion" or "conqueror of people". The English form is Nicholas. I ...

, later

Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople () is the List of ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople, archbishop of Constantinople and (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox ...

*John III (1151) *Barnabas II (1175) *Sophronios II (1191) *Isaias (1209) *Neophytos I (1222) *Georgios II (1254) *Germanos I (1260)

Non-Autocephalous Period (1260–1571)

During the

Lusignan The House of Lusignan ( ; ) was a royal house of French origin, which at various times ruled several principalities in Europe and the Levant, including the kingdoms of Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Armenia, from the 12th through the 15th centuries du ...

and later Venetian rule from 1260–1571, the Church of Cyprus ceased to be autocephalous and came under the direct rule of the

Papacy The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

; its fourteen dioceses were reduced to four until after the Ottoman conquest in 1571, when the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

, for expedient administrative reasons, restored to the Orthodox Church of Cyprus all its previous privileges and rights.

Second Autocephalous Period (1571–present)

References

Sources

, {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Archbishops Of Cyprus Archbishops

Archbishops In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...