The first Catholic Bishop, Bruno Varriano, OFM (of the Order of Franciscan Monks), Patriarchal Vicar for Cyprus, assistant Bishop of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, is ordained next Saturday in Cyprus. The decision was taken by Pope Francis and is the first in 500 years.
According to an announcement, the Episcopal Ordination will take place at the Filoxenia Conference Center in Nicosia, at 4.30pm on Saturday 16 March. This is the first Episcopal Ordination after the Ottoman Empire, and is a major historical event for Cyprus. Patriarchs, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops and scores of clergy from various denominations from around the world, including the Vatican, Italy, Portugal, Brazil, Poland, Ukraine, Syria, Lebanon, of Turkey, Greece and Cyprus.
In addition to hierarchs and religious communities, officials, the diplomatic corps, high officials, Ministers and the President of the Republic of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulidis are invited.
Among others, they are expected to attend and take part in
religious ceremony, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa (Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem), Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer (Metropolitan Archbishop of São Paulo, Brazil), Cardinal Fortunato Frezza from the Vatican and Cardinal Américo Manuel Alves Aguiar (Bishop of Setúbal, Portugal) .
Also expected to be present are the Archbishop of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus Georgios, the Catholic Archbishop of Athens Theodoros Kontidis, the Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus Selim Sfeir, the Bishop of Naples Porphyrios, Archbishop Koren of the Armenian Orthodox Church of Cyprus, the Apostolic Nuncio to Israel and the Apostolic Representative in Jerusalem and Palestine, the Custodian of the Holy Lands, the Apostolic Nuncio in Cyprus and Jordan and the former Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem His Beatitude Fuad Twal From 1192 AD, Latin Catholic Bishops accompanied the presence of the faithful in Cyprus, until 1591 AD when it broke with the Ottoman Empire.
The first Latin Catholic Archbishop of Cyprus was Giovanni Colonna and the last Filippo Motsenio, while to date there have been a total of 28 Latin Catholic bishops in Cyprus, four of whom belonged to the Order of Franciscan Monks.
The day after the Episcopal Ordination, at 1030 am, the first High Priestly Divine Liturgy will be celebrated in charge of the new Latin Catholic Bishop in the Latin Catholic Holy Church of the Holy Cross, in front of the Paphos Gate in Nicosia.
Source: KYPE