Last Sunday, for the first time in 57 years, the Divine Liturgy was performed in the church of Agios Georgios (Exorinos), located in the walled city of Famagusta.
The service started at 08:00, in the presence of the Mayor of Famagusta Alexis Galanos, the Turkish Cypriot Mayor of the occupied city of Oktay Kayal and a crowd of people.
The church of Agios Georgios (Exorinos) last operated in 1957. The Divine Liturgy was officiated by Metropolitan Constantias Vassilios.
In his statements after the service, the Mayor of Famagusta Alexis Galanos expressed his emotion for the reopening of the church of Agios Georgios (Exorinos), while expressing the assessment that the issue of Famagusta is moving in the right direction.
For his part, Mr. Kayal described today as important for Famagusta, expressing the appreciation that this activity can be the starting point for the two communities, e / k and t / k, to start coming together in Famagusta.
"We may have our differences, but at the same time we can endure these differences with good will. I believe that such activities can help find a complete solution to the Cyprus problem ", added Mr. Kayal.
The Metropolitan of Constantia and Famagusta Vassilios noted his special emotion, because -as he mentioned- as Metropolitan of Famagusta he was claimed today to function in the old Famagusta. "We now connect the present with the history of this place," he said.
Answering a question about the empty church from icons, Metropolitan Vassilios said: "We are used to our churches having icons. Something functional is missing from the church. For us something is missing in our soul, when we do not have there the images, in which we can pray, to incense. I hope that now that they have given us the opportunity, if it is possible and there is security, to bring pictures here as well ".
The Administrator of the Initiative Group "Famagusta, our City" Pavlos Iakovou, who was present today at the reopening of the church of Agios Georgios (Exorinou), also spoke about very strong emotions.
"You can catch my heart right now to see how I feel and how happy I am that, together with the initiative group, we managed to reopen the church after 57 years. "The license we got is to be able to operate it whenever we want," he said.