Letter No. 003B.14/BM/nc

12^th July 2014

No. 003B.14/BM/nc

Dear Friends,

I would like to inform you of the last news of our Community:

Parliamentary Work/Meeting of the Representative:

• On June 5^th 2014 I had arranged for a meeting between our Vicar General and the legal adviser to discuss important legal matters.
• On June 17^th I was invited for lunch by H.E. the President of the Republic in honour of the President of the Community of St. Egidio. The community has its head quarters in Rome dealing with Minority rights and is also very interested for the preservation and restoration of Christian churches in the occupied areas.
• On June 19^th I had a meeting with Mrs. Kety Clerides, Presidential Commissioner for Human Rights and the Director of the Cultural Dept. of the Ministry of Education and Culture. The discussion was due to our request to find a permanent exhibition place for the Latin Community. This is an old issue and unfortunately we have not found yet any available government or municipal premises. However, the search to find suitable premises by the above mentioned Cultural Dept. will continue.
• On June 25^th I met the Rumanian Parliamentary Committee for National Minorities, Human Rights and Religious Organizations.
• On June 3^rd I attended and participated in the discussions with the Educational Committee of Private Education.
• The Presidential Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs. Kety Clerides, had invited for lunch the Representatives of the three Religious Minorities (Latins, Maronites and Armenians). During lunch we have discussed common issues.

Community Affairs:

• On April 13^th the Benevolent Society of St. Catherine, Limassol, held a small bazaar to collect money to assist people in need.
• Good Friday was on April 18^th and the Latin Catholic Church of Limassol had organized a procession through streets of Limassol. I was able obtain a police escort. The other Latin Catholic Churches had organized their processions within their church yards.
• Between May 9^th-13^th the Municipality of Limassol was the host of the 34^th European Meeting of European Committees organizing Carnivals in their cities. On Sunday the 11^th May about 30 persons of the above gathering had attended the Latin Mass at St. Catherine in Limassol. The group was received by Father Andrew Archin and myself.
• The annual procession in honour of St. Mary was on Sunday 25^th. It started from St. Mary’s School through the streets of Limassol and arrived at St. Catherine’s church with the help of a police escort which I had arranged.
• On June 11^th the Municipalities of Limassol and Mesa Geitonia had organized a meeting, the purpose of which was to implement European programs to support the people from Third Countries to acclimatize themselves to the Cypriot community at large. During the meeting I had referred to our organizations of St. Catherine’s Benevolent Fund , St. Anthony of Nicosia, St. Francis Shelter and Caritas (who where present).
• The parish of Paphos had organized a parish festival on June 14^th to raise money for its benevolent work.
• On Saturday July 5^th the Hospice of Paphos had held an “open day” for people who wanted to visit the premises. The official opening will be in September/October 2014.

The Official Number of Latin Roman Catholics in Cyprus:

The Statistics Dept. has published the official results of the population census of 2011. The number of Cypriot Latin Catholics has increased and now is 2.267 persons, the European Latin Catholics are 8.610 and the Latin Catholics from other countries in Cyprus are 13.579. Therefore the total Latin Catholics’ presence in Cyprus is now 24.460.

Soon I shall revert with additional news.

Best regards