Onasagoras
"I’m young, I made mistakes, I love Paphos, I was hoping for a second chance."
No, that wasn’t Fidias speaking. Nor was it a contestant on Big Brother. That was former Bishop of Paphos Tychikos responding to the Synod's decision to suspend him from his duties.
Basically, Tychikos was hoping for a yellow card instead of a red one—something that maybe could’ve happened if the Church had a VAR system to review the foul from a different angle. All jokes aside, if Tychikos had joined the hunters’ political party, he might’ve gotten off scot-free.
All jokes aside, if Tychikos had joined the hunters’ political party, he might’ve gotten off scot-free.
When I first skimmed the headline, I thought Tychikos had been ousted for backing "losers" and was briefly confused—after all, as a nation, that’s practically a national pastime every election season. On a second, more careful reading, I saw the actual word was “apotichismenous” (priests who have broken communion with the official Church leadership as a form of protest), referring to priests who refuse to mention the archbishop or the ecumenical patriarch in their liturgy. Serious problems we’re dealing with, clearly…
For some reason, hearing the word "apotichismenoi" (literally “de-walled”) brought to mind Cavafy’s poem Walls: "Without reflection, without mercy, without shame, they built strong walls and high. And now I sit here despairing. I think of nothing else; this fate devours my mind..."
One newspaper claimed the president tried to stop Tychikos’s suspension, but who knows if that’s true. Then again, we haven’t seen a politician get involved in church matters since ELAM’s Christou made that frantic visit to Avakoum Monastery, where, if you recall, we were all shocked to see the courtyard packed with masked men. Not, of course, that his presence there had anything to do with them. That was clearly—"clearly"—just a huge coincidence. Or was it...? No, no, of course not.
Meanwhile, some of our fellow citizens accidentally stepped over a line at a traffic light—neither noticing nor getting any notice of a fine—and now they’re being dragged to court like criminals, facing fines that’ll cost them an arm and a leg. Had they just blocked the highway and fired up the barbecue for some souvla, nobody would’ve said a word. And then the government wonders why people are angry…
“We’re reforming, not giving in to union demands.” That’s what Education Minister Athena Michaelidou said. If only we could hear that kind of thing from the rest of the cabinet. Sure, the reform might not be as drastic as it should be, but it’s at least a step in the right direction. One day, it would be nice to see similar performance reviews—and consequences—in the rest of the public sector. But who would ever dare do such a thing in a country where populism and vote-chasing rule the day?
*This opinion piece was translated from its Greek original
