Should an archbishop be guilty of any crime, either civil or ecclesiastical, he may be deposed by the head of the Church at Constantinople, acting in conjunction with the Turkish government, at the request of the inhabitants of Cyprus.
Bishops may be deposed by the archbishop, who would in such a case assemble the Synod, composed of the heads of clergy in his presidency. Before this tribunal a bishop would be summoned to appear in case of an accusation, and the trial would take place in open court; the power of punishment or absolution remaining in the hands of the archbishop.
The Turkish government appears to have held a peculiar position in relation to the Greek Church in Cyprus, as, although acting in conjunction and in harmony with the customs of the inhabitants, it reserved the right of supreme authority in special cases; thus at various epochs the Turkish government deposed the Archbishops Chrissanthon and Panareton, hanged the Archbishop Kipriano, and banished the Archbishops Joachim and Damaskino.
From the universal complaints, there can be little doubt that the schools that should be established from funds specially invested for that purpose in the hands of certain monasteries, bishops, &c., are grossly neglected, and it has already been suggested that a commission should be instituted by the British authorities, under the presidency of the archbishop, for a rigid investigation of the resources of all monasteries and the ACTUAL revenue of bishoprics, together with the disbursement of all sums that should have been expended either for education or for charitable purposes.
The tithes exacted by the bishops from the peasantry add seriously to the imposts of ordinary taxation, and there is every probability of a reform being demanded by the inhabitants at the hands of the British administration. When under Turkish rule, the Greek Church enjoyed not only perfect freedom, but an immunity from taxation, as, although they were legally liable, the law was never enforced upon the clergy. The English government has determined upon the observance of all laws by all classes, and the Church has awakened to the fact that there is no exception.
"From the earliest times the Greek Church of Cyprus has enjoyed an especial degree of independence; in the reign of the Emperor Zeno, A.D. 473, exceptional privileges were conceded to the Archbishop of Cyprus, who, although he owns the supremacy of the Patriarch of Constantinople over the orthodox Greek Church, claims to be entirely independent of him as regards Church discipline; he wears purple, carries a gold-headed sceptre, has the title of Beatitude, signs in red as the Greek Emperors were wont to do, and uses a seal bearing a two-headed imperial eagle. It is said that these dignities were conferred in consequence of the fortunate discovery at Salamis of the body of St. Barnabas, with a copy of the Gospel of St. Matthew, which precious relic was sent to Constantinople, and in return the Emperor confirmed the Church of Cyprus in its absolute independence, and gave the archbishop the above privileges."* (*Savile's Cyprus, p. 142.)
St. Paul and St. Barnabas visited the island A.D. 45, and the conversion of Sergius Paulus, the proconsul at Paphos, by their preaching, was the first seed of Christianity implanted in Cyprus at the period when the inhabitants were steeped in heathenism; but some of the superstitions at present existing are hardly less degrading than pagan rites, and in the kissing of the Virgin's cave at Trooditissa for the purpose already described, we can trace an affinity with the ancient worship of Venus.
CHAPTER XVIII.
ON POLICE, FOOD, CLIMATE, &C.
The population of Cyprus is about 200,000, of which number more than three-fourths belong to the Greek Church; nevertheless the minority of Turks completely dominated prior to the British occupation. Although the Cypriote is, as I have described, courteous, gentle, and affectionate in his domestic circle, he is at the same time cunning and addicted to petty larceny, and in all your dealings with these apparently easy-going people you must exercise the same acuteness that is so absolutely necessary in England. There are few great crimes in proportion to the population, nor do we ever hear of such atrocities as those classes of murders which so frequently blacken the page of our modern history. Homicide is more common than actual murder, and is often the result of a sudden quarrel where knives are drawn, and a fatal stab in passion constitutes the offence. Sheep-stealing is the prevalent crime, and is carried on with an amount of hardihood that can only be accounted for from the difficulty of proof. The flocks of goats, &c., roam over the wild and uninhabited area of the high mountains and frequently stray from the shepherd and are lost for two or three nights; by the time they are recovered a certain number may be missing, and it is hardly possible to discover the thief, as the animals have been driven to a great distance. Tracking would be out of the question over the rocky surface, where every small plot of naked soil is trodden into countless footmarks by the innumerable goats which browse upon the mountain slopes. At night the flocks are generally herded within a circle protected by a fence of thorny bushes; sometimes these folds are invaded by thieves during the darkness, and a considerable number are driven off. As the locality would be generally distant from the principal town, and the shepherd cannot forsake his flock for several days to prosecute, the thieves frequently escape, and this immunity encourages them to further depredations. During my residence within the precincts of the monastery, the fold upon the hill within a quarter of a mile of the establishment was thus robbed, and the thieves were never discovered.