He will see the border

Benedict XVI’s apostolic visit to Cyprus will take place next June 4-6. It is the first time a Pontiff visits the island, the third largest island in the Mediterranean (after Sicily and Sardinia). The visit can be described “under the banner of the Middle East”. Indeed, the island lies within the jurisdiction of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, without forgetting that when Pius XII set up the Apostolic Delegation for Jerusalem and Palestine on February 11 1948, he included also the land of Cyprus. The visit is linked to the Bishops’ Synod for the Middle East due to be held in Rome October 10-24 on the theme “The Catholic Church in the Middle East: Communion and witness. ‘All the believers were one in heart and (Acts 4: 32)'”. Benedict XVI will present Middle-Eastern patriarchs and bishops with the “Working Document” (“Instrumentum laboris”) of the Assembly during his visit to Cyprus. SIR Europe interviewed father Umberto Barato, general patriarchal vicar of Latin Catholics in Cyprus on the preparations and the significance of the visit. How are the preparations for this important event proceeding? “We have a central commission, formed by the Maronite archbishop Josef Souaef, by myself and by 10 lay faithful who coordinate the sub-commissions tasked with handling specific aspects and sectors of the visit. We’re just at the beginning. A meeting took place January 14 attended by some 250 people. One of the first tasks is to find volunteers. There are many things yet to be prepared but we’re committed to being ready when the Pope arrives. Preparations take place in conjunction with the government and with the local Orthodox Church with which we collaborate and work in a great spirit of ecumenical dialogue”.Did you already identify the sites of the Pope’s visit, and has the program been defined?“The Vatican Commission visited Cyprus past December and identified the sites, although we’re still working on the program’s details which will be defined in the next meetings with the Vatican Commission. At present the program of the papal visit might include a stop in Paphos on June 4, where the apostle Paul preached, and where an ecumenical celebration with orthodox archbishop Chrysostomos II is being planned. In the evening the program envisages a trip to Nicosia where further events are due to take place. In the major Eucharistic celebration of Sunday June 6, the draft program envisages that the Holy Father will present the Middle-Eastern patriarchs with the Instrumentum laboris of the Bishops’ Synod. Cyprus is part of the Holy Land and this is a very significant gesture”.In Nicosia will Benedict XVI see the “green line” which marks the border between the Greek and the Turk areas diving the Island from the East to the West? “He will certainly see the border, whether he will cross it is a different story”.The local Catholic community, consisting of Latins and Maronites is rather small. Do you expect a large number of faithful to take part in the apostolic visit?“We certainly do. But I must say that the local Church doesn’t include Latins and Maronites only but also some 20 thousand people from Asia and, notably, from Africa who are living in Cyprus for job purposes. They also members of our congregation of faithful, also they are our Church. We must not distinguish between local and foreign working population. Not to mention the many illegal migrants. We’re all part of the Church body and we will all convene around the Pope”.What does Cyprus’ Catholic Church expect from this visit?“Much will depend on our spiritual preparation. In this sense, one of the sub-working commissions is tasked with the spiritual formation of the faithful in view of the Pope’s arrival. We don’t want this trip to have a purely social significance, nor that it be viewed on a superficial level. We must be ready to receive the words of Benedict XVI, to acknowledge his counsel and be ever more faithful to the evangelical message. I expect the Church of Cyprus to receive renewed thrust from the visit, new enthusiasm and vitality. I hope it will constitute a special occasion to draw to the Church those who are ‘distant’. We are going to experience a spiritual and pastoral event”. Fact sheet Maronite and Latin Christians form the Catholic community of Cyprus. The Maronites of Cyprus belong to the Eastern Christian cult of the Catholic Church. Figures from the editorial centre of the Custody of the Holy Land register some 6000 Maronites present on the island. The eight Maronite parish churches constitute a diocese, which in October 2008 was entrusted to the guidance of archbishop Msgr. Josef Souaef (47). The liturgical celebration is in Arabic and Aramaic, although many passages are presently translated into Greek. The Latins fall within the pastoral authority of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal. There are some 2000 Latin Christians with Cypriot citizenship, in addition to 7000 non-Cypriot citizens with permanent residence in the island and some 20 thousand foreign temporary workers. Friars minor of the Custody of the Holy Land have their seat in Cyprus. They serve in three of the four Latin parishes on the island in Nicosia, Larnaca and Limassol and run the Terra Sancta College. The latest parish church was erected in Paphos and was entrusted to the spiritual guidance of the Latin Patriarchate. The nuns operating in Catholic schools, in the catechesis, in the assistance to the poor, migrants and the elderly population, provide a fundamental contribution.