Anfim (Maheriotis)

In 1942 he graduated from the theological faculty of the University of Athens ^[1] . For some time he served as a preacher in the Greek army ^[2] .

On January 20, 1951, he was unanimously elected Metropolitan of Kitia ^[2] .

February 4, 1951 he was ordained bishop of China with the elevation to the rank of Metropolitan ^[1] .

In February 1956, Metropolitan Photius of Paphos (Kumidis) left Cyprus, and on March 9 of the same year he was secretly taken into custody and exiled to the Seychelles Archbishop Macarius III , after which Metropolitan of China Anthim and Chorebishop of Salamis Gennady (Maheriotis) remained from the bishops in Cyprus. ^[3] . In connection with the expulsion of Archbishop Macarius III, he protested to the British governor ^[3] .

In connection with the reference of Archbishop Macarius III and Metropolitan Cyprian, Metropolitan Antim of China on March 12, 1956 sent a protest to the Primate of the Orthodox Churches, the Archbishop of Canterbury , the World Council of Churches and a number of political figures of the world. On the same day, he addressed the Orthodox flock with a message saying: “The leader of the Greek Cypriot people was forced to leave the enslaved people in orphans and go into exile ... The anti-Christian and tyrannical activities of the British government cause pain and indignation in the hearts of the people devoted to their ethnarch” . In the temples, prayers began to be offered for the health of those in exile of the Primate of the Church ^[3] .

In September 1956, British authorities restricted the movement of Metropolitan Anfim to his metropolitanate. Communication with the outside world was forbidden to him. Only in April 1957 was the restriction removed from it ^[3] .

In May 1963, he led the delegation of the Church of Cyprus at the celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the hierarchal ministry of Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy I ^{[3] [4]} .

In 1967, Cyprus again experienced pressure: the " black colonels " who came to power in Greece resumed the course towards the unification of Cyprus with Greece . The initiator of the action was Colonel Georgios Grivas . However, now the Cypriots did not want enosis: the independence and territorial integrity of the island was acquired by them at too high a price ^[5] .

The crisis of 1967 led to a significant limitation of the Greek military presence, but Greece continued to struggle against the government of Archbishop Macarius III, using the authority of the Church as a political tool ^[5] .

The result of the confrontation was that on March 2, 1972, Metropolitans Pafsky Gennady (Maheriotis) , Kiti Anfim (Maheriotis) and Kyrenia Cyprian (Kyriakidis) demanded the resignation of Archbishop Macarius III from the post of President of Cyprus under the pretext of incompatibility of the presidency with the current Head of the Church. The heads of the Orthodox and heterodox Churches came out in support of Macarius III, considering him the traditional (since 1660) successor to the archbishops - ethnarchs of the Cypriot people ^[6] .

On March 8, 1973, a meeting of the Holy Synod took place in Limassol , which was attended by three metropolitans - Metropolitan Gennady of Paphos, Metropolitan of China Anthim (Maheriotis) and Metropolitan of Cyrene Cyprian (Kyriakidis). Under the pretext of the incompatibility of secular ministry with the holy dignity, they determined to remove Archbishop Macarius III from the position of Primate of the Church of Cyprus. At the same time, Metropolitan of Paphos Gennady was elected by them as locum tenens ^{[3] [7]} .

Archbishop Makarios immediately responded to this decision, saying that it was invalid, since the Synod gathered illegally (without the will of the Archbishop), moreover, according to Archbishop Makarios, it showed that the metropolitans could not assess the internal political situation in the country, undermined the moral authority of Churches, sabotaging it, and generally opposed the Cypriot people ^[3] .

On July 14, 1973 ^[1] in Nicosia, under the chairmanship of the Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and all of Africa, Nicholas VI, with the participation of the Patriarch of Antioch and the whole East of Elijah IV and the other eleven bishops of the Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem Patriarchates, the Great and Supreme Synod unanimously recognized the decisions of the three Cypriot Metropolitan of the deposition of Archbishop Macarius anticanonical and invalid. Metropolitan troublemakers were suspended from their duties ^[3] .

Metropolitans refused to obey the decisions of the Great and Supreme Synod, saying that only the Patriarch of Constantinople was entitled to convene such a Synod, and the latter did not participate in the actions of the Synod. General Grivas, in turn, stated that this Synod was "an invasion of Islam under the leadership of the Patriarch of Alexandria" and leads to chaos and bloodshed. He took the suspended metropolitans under the protection of the military forces ^[3] .

In July 1974, an attempted coup d'etat led to the invasion of Turkish troops on the island . Archbishop Macarius III left Cyprus, but in December of that year he returned from London. Turks occupied 37% of Cyprus territory ^[8] .

He died in 1976 ^[1] .

On April 5, 1982, after the former Metropolitan of Paphos Gennady repented and declared the Synod’s decision of March 7, 1973 invalid, at the initiative of Archbishop Chrysostomos in Nicosia, a second Great and Supreme Synod was convened, who returned to him the rank of bishop without a pulpit. It was also decided on the posthumous removal of excommunication from Metropolitan Anfim ^{[9] [10]} .