Archbishop laid out for public worship (Updated)

Members of the public will be able to view Archbishop Chrysostomos as of Thursday morning as his coffin will be laid out for public worship until his funeral on Saturday.

Greece’s President Katerina Sakellaropoulou will attend the funeral, while President Nicos Anastasiades will deliver the euology.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople will lead the funeral, which will begin at noon. He is travelling to Cyprus for the first time.

The archbishop will be buried under the Apostolos Varnava church, as he wished.

Signing the arcbishop’s condolences book, Disy leader Averof Neophytou said Chrysostomos’ journey was filled with beneficial reforms.

“He loathed the term hypocrisy, always said what he believed and was authentic. He didn’t focus on what people wanted to hear but instead what he believed, even if many times his words sparked reactions. We will remember him,” Neophytou said.

In the condolences book, Neophytou wrote the archbishop fought for the church for his whole life, modernising the institution and tried to bring people closer to the church. Chrysostomos’ stance in the face of his illness sent a strong message of courage, he added. The archbishop, 81, died on Monday after a long battle with cancer.