UOC-KP creates "vicariate" in Cyprus

A cleric of the UOC-KP vicariate in Cyprus. Photo: Telegram channel of “Patriarch” Nikodym

On May 28, 2026, “Patriarch” Nikodym of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate signed a series of decrees establishing a UOC-KP “vicariate” in Cyprus and receiving a number of clerics and monastics.

Nektarios Georgiou, former abbot of the Monastery of St. Avvakum in Fterikoudi, within the Metropolis of Tamasos and Orinis, was appointed secretary of the newly created “vicariate.”

In addition to him, Nikodym’s decrees received Archimandrite Avvakum Christofi, Archimandrite Porfyrios Ttoulos, Monk Timotheos Florentsou, Monk Spyridon Pittaras, and Monk Isaiah Christofi into the UOC-KP.

Along with them, the Archangel Michael parish in Nicosia and the Brotherhood (Monastery) of St. Avvakum, together with its brethren and flock, also entered the schism. The latter was granted stavropegial status.

In total, Nikodym received six clerics and monastics, as well as two church entities, at one time.

Notably, all the key figures of the new “vicariate” were involved in one of Cyprus’s most high-profile church-criminal scandals of 2024. The ecclesiastical court of the Church of Cyprus defrocked Nektarios Georgiou, Avvakum Christofi, and Porfyrios Ttoulos. They face a total of 19 criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion amounting to €1.1 million.

“Step by step, we are establishing the Kyiv Patriarchate!” Nikodym wrote on his Telegram channel.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that a parish in Dénia, Spain, had moved from the Church of Constantinople to the UOC-KP.

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