Metropolitan Tychikos’ lawyers: An appeal to the Phanar suspends the ban

Metropolitan Tychikos. Photo: screenshot from the YouTube page of the Holy Metropolis of Paphos (Ιερά Μητρόπολις Πάφου)

On January 27, 2026, the lawyers for Metropolitan Tychikos stated that filing an appeal to the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople suspends the ban imposed on the Metropolitan of Paphos until the Phanar issues its final decision, a Greek-language UOJ website reports.

According to the official press release, on January 21, 2026, Metropolitan Tychikos exercised his inalienable right of appeal, as provided by the Sacred Canons and the Church’s Charter.

The Cypriot hierarch filed an appeal addressed to Patriarch Bartholomew in connection with the most recent decision of the Holy Synod of the Church of Cyprus imposing a ban on him.

The press release says that the very procedure by which the decision was adopted to impose an indefinite prohibition from serving contradicts the Sacred Canons, the Holy Tradition of the Orthodox Church, ecclesiastical law, and also the national and international legal order, because it does not conform to basic principles of law and justice.

The document emphasizes in particular that the filing of an appeal has suspensive effect: until the Ecumenical Patriarchate renders its decision, the punishment in the form of a “ban” has not entered into force.

According to Metropolitan Tychikos’ lawyers, the new appeal is aimed at countering the “stubborn and illogical continuation of violations of the fundamental norms of ecclesiastical justice,” expressed in attempts to impose additional sanctions on him.

For his part, Metropolitan Tychikos firmly rejects any claims that he is supposedly acting at someone’s prompting or under the influence of third parties.

He also rejects the thesis that the Church of Greece bears any responsibility, stressing that it has always supported and continues to support the Church of Cyprus. Attempts to shift responsibility onto it, he says, amount to an unacceptable practice – intimidation, blame-shifting, and a blow to interchurch relations.

The press release states that any statements that predetermine or substitute for the decisions of the Holy Synod of the Church of Cyprus go beyond the principle of conciliarity and resemble the rhetoric of secular authority, foreign to the Church’s spirit.

In the lawyers’ view, such actions indicate continuing attempts to influence an objective and impartial review of the case.

The document separately mentions a public remark by Archbishop George of Cyprus in the media: “Tell him to formulate his thought in one sentence, and you will see.”

Metropolitan Tychikos’ lawyers call this claim self-refuting, noting that his word is well known through his pastoral sermons to the flock of Paphos. They also recall that during sessions of the Holy Synod he was denied the right to speak, and they describe the Archbishop’s behavior as insulting – including publicly even before the Synod meeting of May 22, 2025.

In the event of further defamatory or discrediting statements, Metropolitan Tychikos reserves the right to use all legal means of protection available under the law.

The document also stresses that the issues which, according to the authors, were not observed by the leadership of the Church of Cyprus during the proceedings had already been pointed out twice in writing by the Ecumenical Patriarch. These circumstances may become the subject of review by the courts of the Republic of Cyprus, and, if necessary, by the European Court of Human Rights as well.

In the view of the Metropolitan’s representatives, when the highest church leadership acts in such a way that serious questions arise about legality, conflicts of interest, and abuse of power, the situation ceases to be a purely “internal church matter” and takes on the character of an institutional crisis.

The statement also sharply criticizes initiatives to amend the Charter of the Church of Cyprus which, it says, are aimed at removing the participation of the people in metropolitan elections – contrary to ancient church tradition – and at simplifying procedures for the removal and deposition of hierarchs.

According to the lawyers, these steps are being undertaken in order to retroactively legitimize the decision to depose Metropolitan Tychikos, placing at risk not only a particular individual, but the entire system of ecclesiastical justice, the governance of the Church of Cyprus, and its unity.

The press release is signed by the authorized legal representatives of Metropolitan (former) Tychikos of Paphos – the law firm M.H. Milonas & Partners and attorney Irineos Antoniou Yakoumakis.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Metropolitan Tychikos of Paphos filed a new appeal to Constantinople.

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