Archbishop says ‘claim don’t buy’ stolen church treasures

Archbishop Georgios of Cyprus stressed on Friday night that the church should change its tactic and instead of purchasing stolen artefacts, should claim their return through legal routes.

He was speaking at a two-day symposium organised in Nicosia by Kykkos monastery to highlight the ecclesiastical heritage smuggled out of the island as a result of the 1974 Turkish invasion.

All speakers at the symposium, which continued on Saturday, said the destruction of cultural heritage, desecration and looting of Christian treasures and the coordinated Turkish effort to wipe out the historical memory, was a crime against humanity in general.

They added that all bishoprics and the state should promote the issue so that the stolen artefacts are returned and that places of worship in the north be protected until free access to them is allowed.

President Nikos Christodoulides said in an address, read out by Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis, that the extent of the crime against world cultural and ecclesiastical heritage in Cyprus was unprecedented.

The Archbishop referred to the destruction of churches and monuments in the north, which have been turned into coffeeshops, warehouses, museums, stables or just abandoned to the elements.

Delivering the main speech, Bishop of Kykkos and Tillyria Nikiforos outlined the initiatives and work of Kykkos monastery spoke of the looting and selling of Cypriot treasures, as well as the purchase of many artefacts through auctions with an aim to repatriate them.

Tradition and cultural heritage are proof of the Greek Christian presence on the island and that is why Turkey is methodically trying to destroy them, said, adding that people around the globe need to know about this.

The work of Bishop Nikiforos was presented by expert Charalambos Hotzakoglu, who said the bishop has listed churches and monuments in the north to support his further efforts.

The Patriarch of Alexandria, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, the Archbishop of Armenians in Cyprus, the Bishop of Cyprus’ Catholics, the Archbishop of Maronites in Cyprus, referred to the looting of ecclesiastical treasures and efforts to repatriate them.