Archbishop of Cyprus Georgios will be dipping into church coffers to support families with three children, in an effort to help the island recover from its bleak demographics, it was reported on Wednesday.

Taking the low birthrate into his own hands, the archbishop will be paying a yet unspecified allowance to eligible families, based on specific criteria.

Exact payment schedules are unclear, but sources told Philenews that this money would be neither on a monthly basis nor a lump sum.

An online platform is being set up for applications and is expected to be up and running in July 2025.

All applications will be handled by the archbishopric, however no more details have been made available, apart from the fact that beneficiaries would have to meet certain ‘ecclesiastical’ criteria.

The church will require one of the two parents to hold the Cypriot citizenship, one of the two to be an Orthodox Christian and the child to benefit be baptised.

Further details are expected to be made known over the coming days.

The allowances will not be the same for all families and will depend on the needs of each child and possibly its age.

Archbishop Georgios had announced the allowance for families with three children before he had been enthroned in January 2022.

Over the past months, the church had been in deliberation with the labour ministry, which is reported to be ready to support this effort.

The state has said it will be taking measures to address the low birthrate, with two bundles of measures to be announced soon.

Cyprus’ birthrate stands at 1.4 per cent and needs to be 2.1 per cent for the replacement of the population every 25 years.