“Our heritage is constantly robbed, mistreated, sold abroad by those who are occupying one part of our island": this denunciation by the Orthodox archbishop of Cyprus, Chrysostomos II, was made this morning, during the visit paid to Msgr. Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference. Answering the greeting by the president of CEI, Chrysostomos II asked for the support of the Italian Church "for our right intention to restore our occupied monuments, destroyed or left in ruin, since the Catholic, Maronite, Armenian, Hebrew and Orthodox sacred places of Cyprus, all of them belonging to the cultural heritage of humanity, are liable to disappear for ever”. Moreover, the Orthodox archbishop looked at Europe, too: "it is our common House, a place too often becoming a cause for despair, as well as of hope for a common destination, such as the Kingdom of God! It is a territory where the family is danger of extinction because of people neglecting God’s law, by now. It is a land with Christian roots, where Christianity is nevertheless threatened, persecuted, hurt”. "It is time to act he concluded. We must join our efforts, our exertions, our Christian token, so that the world will believe us". (To be continued)
