“It’s easy to say what Cypriots’ hopes for the forthcoming Copenhagen summit are: that of being accepted in Europe”. That’s how Father Umberto Barato, Latin patriarchal vicar of Cyprus, sums up the island’s hopes in the imminent Council meeting that will decide on EU enlargement. “Of the 10 nations that are about to join the EU points out the Franciscan Cyprus seems to be the first to have its credentials in order. Its economy is fairly sound, so living standards are high. There have been no particular problems in the various sectors of public life to adjust Cypriot laws to EU legislation. Human rights are respected. There is virtually no unemployment; indeed the island with its 700,000 inhabitants could offer job opportunities to many people, once she becomes part of Europe”. There is no particular fear. On the contrary, there’s a hope that “ Cyprus’ membership of Europe may lead to the overcoming of a partition that has lasted for almost 30 years“, i.e. since the Turkish invasion in 1974. It’s a partition Father Barato explains that “no one has ever accepted”, and that “neither the United Nations, nor Europe, nor other nations or international organizations have ever recognized as permanent”. The Turkish State of Northern Cyprus, which declared its own independence in 1993, is in fact recognized only by Turkey, while the UN-sponsored plan for the solution of the problem of Cyprus, presented by Kofi Annan in early November, is still awaiting a reply from the Turkish authorities. The island has a population of 786,000, scattered over an area of less than 10,000 sq km. There are some 17,000 Byzantine-rite Catholics; 80% of the population belongs to the autocephalous Greek-Orthodox Church of Cyprus. The Latin Church depends on the patriarchate of Jerusalem (with a patriarchal vicar, 9 priests and 4 parishes), while the Maronite oriental Church has an archbishop (Boutros Gemayel), 7 priests and 7 parishes.
