Cyprus Mail: Press Review in English, 98-12-17

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cynews.com/>

Thursday, December 16, 1998

Monk gave VD to nuns says Bishop

WHILE ARCHBISHOP Chrysostomos attempted to restore calm within the Church, the Bishop of Paphos Chrysostomos carried on making public allegations against monks.

Simerini reported that the Archbishop had told the Bishop to keep his mouth shut, but instead the latter added more fuel to the fire, accusing the Mount Athos monk, Father Iosif, of infecting nuns with a venereal disease. He also said the Holy Synod was aware of the case, but the Archbishop told the paper there had been no evidence to support the Bishop's allegations.

Meanwhile the public reaction to the Bishop's claims has become much stronger, with Orthodox groups calling for demonstrations against Chrysostomos. They are also preparing a petition calling for his removal from the Bishopric. The Bishop was convinced that the Archbishop would throw the petition in the rubbish bin.

Haravghi covered the allegations of the Paphos Bishop more sympathetically, saying he had eight witnesses to back his allegations. It said that the Bishop had no intention of retracting his allegations against Iosif and Machaeras abbot Father Athanasios, who will stand for Limassol Bishop.

The paper said the row went much deeper than the allegations suggested. It claimed that the Mount Athos monks were an organised group who wanted to impose "religious fundamentalism" on the Cyprus Church. This group "brainwashed" youngsters with problems and would then make them become monks. It was this harmful tendency that the Bishop was fighting against, it said.

Alithia reported that the Cyprus government had asked the Russian government to postpone the loading of the S-300 missiles on ships for a few days in view of US efforts to broker a deal on security issues.

This had been the subject of a meeting at the Defence Ministry attended by the Russian ambassador and the chairman of the firm manufacturing the missiles. The missiles should have been loaded on ships for transport to Cyprus on December 15.

Phileleftheros said there was intensive, behind-the-scenes diplomatic activity about the missiles, but everything would become clearer in the next few days. Meanwhile, the vice-president of the Russian government wrote to President Clerides to assure him that his country would ensure the safe delivery and deployment of the missiles in Cyprus.

US envoy Richard Holbrooke was currently involved in contacts aimed at drafting a list of proposals for reducing tension, while in New York, representatives of Britain, Russia and the US were drafting the resolution to be approved by the UN Security Council.

Machi reported that the police had at the last minute thwarted escape plans by convicts serving life sentences at Nicosia Central Prison. After a tip-off, police raided two wings of the Central Prison where they found a mobile phone and a knife.

The convicts had been in contact with associates outside the prison who would have helped them escape.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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