A new four-member church committee was elected in the Paphos district village of Tsada on Sunday, after the previous committee had been dismissed by the now deposed Paphos bishop Tychikos.

The committee’s four new members were elected by the village’s churchgoers.

They are Vasos Georgiou, Daniel Makariou, Demetra Georgiadou, and Sozos Sophokleous.

One of the four will be formally appointed as the committee’s chair by Archbishop Georgios in the coming days.

Tychikos had been relieved of his duties last month after he was charged with various breaches of church protocol, including the showcasing an icon of a saint not canonised by the Church. 

Archbishop Georgios took up the role of administrating the Paphos diocese with immediate effect, while procedures for electing a new Paphos bishop are to be started. 

Georgios had previously clashed with Tychikos, notably over the latter’s refusal to allow the relic of Apostle Paul’s skull to be brought from the Vatican City to Cyprus on the principle that the Pope is a heretic. The archbishop had issued repeated warnings to his subordinate in the past. 

Six bishops supported Tychikos, including Morphou Bishop Neophytos and Arsinoe Bishop Pangratios, along with the Limassol bishops’ group, which is made up of four clerics.