Kyrillos the Second (Papadopoulos from Kition)

Also known as “Kyrillatsos”, he was Archbishop of Cyprus from 1909 until 1916. Kyrillos the Second, before ascending to the Archbishopric Throne, had been the Metropolitan Bishop of Kition from 1893 until 1909. Before that he served as the Metropolitan bishop of Kyrineia from 1889 until 1893.

He was born in the village of Prodromos in the Limassol district in 1845 and he died in 1916. His secular name was Constantinos. With the aid of the Archdiocese he studies in the Hellenic School of Nicosia from 1860 until 1866 and he then studied in the School of Theology of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, graduating from it in 1872. The following year, 1873, he returned to Cyprus and was ordained a Deacon. He worked as a teacher in the Hellenic School of Nicosia and as a Preacher in the Archdiocese. In 1889 the current Bishop of Kyrineia, Chrysanthos, had moved to the vacant throne of the Diocese of Kition (because the Diocese of Kition was bigger and also superior in hierarchy than that of Keryneia) and so Kyrillos Papadopoulos was elected to the vacant throne of the Keryneia Diocese.

Kyrillos remained only for four years in the throne of Keryneia’s Diocese, that is, until 1893. Then, after the death of the Bishop of Kition Chrysanthos and following his example, Kyrillos also switched to the throne of Kition’s Diocese.
In the meantime Kyrillos the Second, before he became Archbishop and while being the metropolitan Bishop of Keryneia and later on of Kition, got involved in politics since 1889 while also holding his hieratic position. He served as a member of the Legislative Council, a Member of The Parliament that is, managing to be elected for five consecutive terms. In 1889-1891, in 1891-1896, in 1896-1901, in 1901-1906, and in 1906-1911. During his last parliamentary term he was elected Archbishop of Cyprus in 1909.

However, before his election as Archbishop, a very serious crisis had divided the Church and the people for about ten years. This crisis became known in Cyprus’s recent history as “the Archbishopric Matter ”. This dispute, initially a clearly ecclesiastical one, had then also acquired wider political and social dimensions.

In 1899 the metropolitan bishop of Pafos, Epifanios, dies, followed by the Archbishop of Cyprus, Sofronios, in 1900. After these two deaths the Church of Cyprus was left with only two high-ranking prelates: Kyrillos Papadopoulos (“Kyrillatsos”, meaning “Big Kyrillos”) of Kition and Kyrillos Vasileios (“Kyrilloudin” or “Little Kyrillos”) of Kyrineia. Both were promoted as candidates for the dignity of Cyprus’s Archbishop. The lack of a complete ecclesiastical hierarchy that could constitute a Synod and the non-existence of institutional methods regarding the procedure for the election of an Archbishop quickly drove things to a dead-lock, resulting in a severely heated rivalry between the tow candidates named “Kyrillos”. The people themselves were divided into “kitiakoi” (supporters of Kition’s Kyrillos) and “kyrineiakoi’ (supporters of Kyrineia’s Kyrillos). This dispute was not only long but also quite heated because it also had other consequences. Each of the two “Kyrilloi” (plural) expressed a line of his own regarding the national issue of Cyprus. The British -at least officially -did not actively participate in the dispute, which lasted for a decade. However, it is obvious that the prolongation of the crisis between the Greeks of Cyprus themselves worked in their favor.
The supporters of the two “Kyrilloi”, the “kitiakoi” and the “kyrineiakoi”, became known with the characterizations “uncompromising” and “conciliatory” respectively, because of the political line each part incarnated

The dispute between the “Kyrilloi” and their supporters went through various stages and the Patriarchates of Constantinople, Jerusalem, and Alexandria also got involved with the whole issue.

In 1907 the current Governor, Sir Harman, forwarded to the Legislative Council a Bill «On the Election of the Archbishop», the preparation of which he had assigned to the «neutral politician» Ioannis Kyriakidis. Kyrillos of Kyrineia denounced this Bill, the Ecumenical Patriarch Ioakeim also reacting towards it. In June of the same year the Patriarch of Alexandria Fotios and the Archimandrite of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem Meletios Metaxakis cam to Cyprus, as also did the metropolitan Bishop of Agchialos Vasileios, in order to contribute to the settlement of the crisis. However, they eventually also got involved in it, Fotios supporting Kyrillos of Kition and Vasileios supporting Kyrillos of Kyrineia.

In February of 1908 the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople took the ill-considered decision (after consulting with the British) of “electing” itself the new Archbishop of Cyprus and so they elected Kyrillos of Kyrineia. The reaction of the supporter of Kition’s Kyrillos however was immediate and decisive, while the “kyrineiakoi” were celebrating. Large numbers of “kitiakoi” streamed into Nicosia with Greek flags and chanting slogans, the threat of serious clashes becoming imminent. In the meantime the “kyrineiakoi” had taken over the Archdiocese in which both Kyrillos of Kition and Kyrillos of Kyrineia were present, demanding that the enthronement process would go on. The British Authorities, wanting to prevent the bloodshed, evacuated the Archdiocese and rushed the two metropolitan Bishops to the Governor’s Residency. Besides, Kyrillos of Kyrineia, fearing a bloodshed, announced that he did not accept his election to the throne because –as he said –he did not want to “ascend to it while stepping on corpses ”. Still, the clashes and the stone-throwing were not avoided and the High Commissioner declared Martial Law.
After all these events, the voting of the Bill “on the Election of the Archbishop” was achieved, being approved by the Legislative Council (in which the vast majority of the 9 Greek members were supporters of Kition’s Kyrillos) on 22.4.1908. It then became possible to conduct elections for the appointment of general representatives. The elections were conducted without any serious clashes. And so, on 8.4.1909 the elected General Representatives (60 in number) gathered in the Archdiocese’s great Hall of the Synod and elected Kition’s Kyrillos as the Archbishop of Cyprus. However, the final reconciliation of the two “Kyrilloi” came in February of 1910, after the mediation of the Greek Government. The looser of the elections was awarded the title of «Beatitude President of Kyrineia». Yet he was also destined to ascend to the Archbishopric Throne a few years later -as Kyrillos -after the death of his great rival in 1916.