Cyprus Archbishop Chrysostomos I has died

Former Archbishop Chrysostomos I has died, aged 80. His body will lay in state on Sunday and a funeral will be held on Monday.The funeral will be held at 1300 local time (1100 GMT) at the Ayios Ioannis Cathedral in Nicosia. The primate of the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus, Archbishop Chrysostomos II will officiate.

The Primate of the Cyprus Church Archbishop Chrysostomos II expressed his profound grief for the Former Archbishop's death, noting that he was a highly spiritual personality, who offered a lot to the island during difficult times and History will remember him. In April 2000 he suffered a severe head injury when he fell from the staircase of the Archiepiscopal Palace and never recovered. In 2004 it became known that he suffered from Alzheimer's disease and fell into a coma the following year. However he remained Head of the Church of Cyprus due to lack of legislation in church's laws for cases of incapacity. He was born in the village of Statos in Paphos. By the scholarship of Kykkos Monastery, whom he served as a monk, he finished the Pancyprian Gymnasium in 1950 and he studied theology and literature in the University of Athens. He was named an archimandrite. He taught in the Pancyprian Gymnasium as a professor. He served as Bishop of Paphos from 1973 until November 12, 1977 when he was elected Archbishop of Cyprus in succession to the late President and Archbishop of Cyprus, Makarios III who died the same year.