It’s no surprise when listening to Archbishop Georgios’ public messages that the Church is heavily invested in the Cyprus issue and stopping the ‘turkification’ of the island at all costs.

This has now apparently extended to donating 15 buses to the National Guard to ferry conscripts to and from their army camps.

“The Orthodox Church has always blessed and blesses defensive and liberation struggles and prays to God to grant victories,” Georgios typically said at the recent contract signing.

Again, not surprising but given the uncertain times we live, the decision could be classed as highly questionable for two reasons.

Number one, the stated, primary goal of the Church of Cyprus is “to serve its spiritual and evangelical mission, which focuses on the salvation of people, the preservation of the Orthodox faith, and the guidance of its flock towards unity with Christ”.

Secondly, does the National Guard need to have buses donated to ferry its conscripts around as if it were a charity for needy people?

Cyprus has increased defence outlays steadily in recent years, budgeted allocations for armaments in 2026 approaching €180 million. What would 15 buses cost from that? Half a million?

Defence Minister Vasilis Palmas at the contract signing told the archbishop: “… we will do our utmost to shield the defensive armour of the country to the greatest extent possible, as long as there is occupation and as long as Turkish troops… and to strengthen the deterrent power of the country.”

Wouldn’t ferrying soldiers to their army camps be considered one of the most crucial aspects of shielding “the defensive armour of the country to the greatest extent possible”?

Can a state dealing with an occupation not afford such a basic amenity for its defence forces?

It might sound pedantic to criticise a gesture of goodwill but can neither the archbishop nor the defence minister read the room?

The archbishop even lamented that the Church was not in a position to finance the National Guard’s “other needs” because its resources were limited as if both the state and the Church were in danger of becoming impoverished.

The Church is one of the wealthiest, if not the wealthiest organisation in Cyprus and the state has an apparent no-holds-barred policy on defence spending.

The real impoverished are those 167,000 people, including 26,000 children living close to the poverty line as was recently revealed. And with the ongoing situation in the Middle East, it may not be long before we’re back to needing food banks just like 2013.

It’s not that the Church doesn’t help the poor. It does, having recently announced a €2 million scheme for large families. It also plans to set up palliative care units, which is another area where the state has failed its duty of care to its citizens.

The Church should not have offered the buses and the state should have told the archbishop the money could be better spent taking care of its flock because the defence ministry is more than capable of transporting its soldiers around.