Anthemius of Cyprus

The issue of granting autocephaly to the Church of Cyprus was positively resolved back in 431 at the final meeting of the Third Ecumenical Council in Ephesus . However, the wording of this decision was not entirely unambiguous and contained a significant proportion of convention: if it was proved that Cypriot Christians used autocephaly, then let it be used in the future ("... if there was no ancient custom, so that the bishop of Antioch made deliveries in Cyprus, as reverently men who came to the Holy Council announced to us in writing and verbally, then those in authority in the holy Cypriot Churches may have freedom, without any claims to them, and without restraining them, according to the rules of the Holy Fathers, and according to an ancient custom, to make the setting of reverent bishops by themselves ” ^[1] ). This decision was recognized by all Christian hierarchs of that time. However, after less than half a century, the Patriarch of Antioch Peter II Knife made a decisive attempt to include the Church of Cyprus in his jurisdiction under the pretext that Cyprus received Christianity from Antioch ^[2] .

The then Archbishop of Cyprus, Anfemy, in 478, turned to the Emperor of Byzantium, Flavius ​​Zenon (474-475, 476-491), with a request to officially resolve the issue of autocephaly of the Church of Cyprus. Shortly before this, Archbishop Anfemy was visited by the visions of the Apostle Barnabas , considered the founder of the Church of Cyprus. According to the “ Encomy to Saint Barnabas” by Alexander of Cyprus ( VI century ), the holy apostle appeared three times in an dream and indicated where to look for his burial. Having heeded the instructions of the apostle, Anfemy discovered in 5 stages from the city of Constance , in a place called Ighias ("Place of Health") in a cave under the carob tree, the tomb of the holy apostle Barnabas. On the chest of the apostle lay the Gospel of Matthew , transcribed by the hand of Barnabas himself ^[3] and, according to legend, put into the grave by the evangelist Mark himself ^[2] .

The acquisition of the relics of the Apostle Barnabas and the discovery of the gospel became important arguments in a dispute with the Patriarch of Antioch and served as strong evidence of the validity of the autocephaly of the Church of Cyprus as founded by the Apostle Barnabas himself. Arriving at the court of the emperor in Constantinople, Archbishop Anfemy set out to Flavius ​​Zenon the circumstances of gaining the relics of the apostle and presented the emperor with the gospel found along with the relics, as well as part of the relics. The arguments of Anfemy regarding the need for autocephaly of the Church of Cyprus were favorably received by the emperor, who ordered the Synod to be convened in Constantinople under the chairmanship of the patriarch Akaki .

The meeting of the Synod confirmed the decision of the Third Ecumenical Council on autocephaly of the Church of Cyprus. The decision of the Synod of Constantinople was approved by the emperor, who granted the archbishop Anfemy and all subsequent archbishops of Cyprus the three most important privileges of the primate of the autocephalous church : to sign official documents with cinnabar , to wear the purple mantle and the imperial scepter (instead of the bishop's staff) ^{[2] [3]} .

After returning to Cyprus, Archbishop Anfemy about 488 at the expense of Emperor Flavius ​​Zeno founded the monastery of the Apostle Barnabas at the site of the relics and erected a large temple in the form of three oil basilica , which became one of the most important Christian pilgrimage points in Cyprus ^[4] .

• Zoitakis, Athanasius History of the Cypriot Orthodox Church in the I — X centuries. // www.agionoros.ru
• Barnabas // Orthodox Encyclopedia . - M .: Church Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia" , 2003. - V. VI. - S. 641-646. - 752 s. - 39,000 copies. - ISBN 5-89572-010-2 .