"PEACE IS NOT A RELATIVE VALUE": In Cyprus for the first time Catholic Cardinals at the Divine Orthodox Liturfy in the Agia Sophia Church
Video: Divine Orthodox Liturgy(3' 39'')
For the first time in Cyprus, 6 catholic cardinals and 13 bishops participated this morning to the Orthodox Divine Liturgy at the Agia Sophia Church in Strovolos (Nicosia), which anticipated the opening of the XXII Interreligious Meeting of the Community of Sant’Egidio The Civilization of peace: Faiths and Cultures in dialogue which this year takes place in Cyprus. At the service the Archbishop of Cyprus Chrysostomos II, Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and of the whole, and the other representatives of the Orthodox Churches were present. Yesterday Chrysostomos II attended for the first time in Cyprus the Catholic Liturgy with the cardinal Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, in the Holy Cross Church in Nicosia, between the Greek zone and the zone occupied by the Turkish armed force.
In his homily the Archbishop Chrysostomos II riminded the difficult condition of the island and expressed the joy of the ancient Apostolic Church of Cyprus in meeting together with all the other sister Churches and reaffirmed the meaning of peace as an absolute value: “In spite of different tongues, through the Liturgy, we affirmed the unity of faiths and the bond of the love between us”. In welcoming the Orthodox Churches, Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Community of Sant'Egidio, remarked the value of the beauty of the Orthodox Liturgy celebrated in Cyprus: "For us the civilisation of peace begins here. Peace is a gift of God and the Liturgy is beautiful and desirable."
