The Economic Activities of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus
Unlike many other Orthodox Churches, the Church of Cyprus evolved in a historically distinct trajectory, maintaining an institutional independence from post-1878 colonial authorities. This status was codified in the 1960 Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus. As a result, although it lost much of i...
| Published in: | Archives de sciences sociales des religions |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Ed. de l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
[2019]
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| In: |
Archives de sciences sociales des religions
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Ekklēsia Kypru
/ Economic development
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| RelBib Classification: | KBK Europe (East) KDF Orthodox Church |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | Unlike many other Orthodox Churches, the Church of Cyprus evolved in a historically distinct trajectory, maintaining an institutional independence from post-1878 colonial authorities. This status was codified in the 1960 Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus. As a result, although it lost much of its estates during the British period, as well as after the 1974 Turkish invasion, the church was able to continue to operate as an independent economic agent both during the British era as well as during the post-1960 era. The church's hierarchs adopted a quite rare model of "businessman bishop", whereby some of its bishops became heavily involved in numerous economic activities. The Archiepiscopal Throne also invested heavily in the banking sector, tourism, commercial companies, manufacturing, etc. This intertwining between economic entrepreneurship and religious institutions is certainly a departure from the typical state-church model prevalent in most Orthodox nations. The effects of the post-2008 crisis on the church's portfolio were extensive and placed numerous fiscal restrictions on its various activities. For this reason, following the March 2013 EU decisions concerning the island's banking sector, the church has been quite vocal in protecting its interests - as well as framing this response in terms of the general public good. Unlike many other Orthodox Churches, the Church of Cyprus evolved in a historically distinct trajectory, maintaining an institutional independence from post-1878 colonial authorities. This status was codified in the 1960 Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus. As a result, although it lost much of its estates during the British period, as well as after the 1974 Turkish invasion, the church was able to continue to operate as an independent economic agent both during the British era as well as during the post-1960 era. The church's hierarchs adopted a quite rare model of "businessman bishop", whereby some of its bishops became heavily involved in numerous economic activities. The Archiepiscopal Throne also invested heavily in the banking sector, tourism, commercial companies, manufacturing, etc. This intertwining between economic entrepreneurship and religious institutions is certainly a departure from the typical state-church model prevalent in most Orthodox nations. The effects of the post-2008 crisis on the church's portfolio were extensive and placed numerous fiscal restrictions on its various activities. For this reason, following the March 2013 EU decisions concerning the island's banking sector, the church has been quite vocal in protecting its interests - as well as framing this response in terms of the general public good. Contrairement à beaucoup d’autres Églises orthodoxes, l’Église de Chypre a évolué en suivant une trajectoire historiquement distincte et en maintenant une indépendance institutionnelle par rapport aux autorités coloniales depuis 1878. Ce statut a été codifié avec le Constitution de la République de Chypre en 1960. Même si elle a perdu beaucoup de ses propriétés pendant la période britannique ainsi qu’après l’invasion turque de 1974, l’Église a continué de fonctionner comme un agent économique indépendant tant pendant la période britannique qu’après l’Indépendance de 1960. Les hiérarques de cette Église ont adopté un modèle assez rare, celui de l’« évêque businessman » : certains évêques se sont ainsi trouvés impliqués dans un grand nombre d’activités économiques. De même, le trône archiépiscopal a investi de manière significative dans le secteur bancaire, le tourisme, les compagnies commerciales, les manufactures, etc. Le fait que les institutions religieuses soient également des entrepreneurs actifs ne correspond pas forcément au modèle classique de la relation entre État et Église qui caractérise la plupart des pays orthodoxes. Les effets de la crise de 2008 sur l’Église et sur les investissements qu’elle avait réalisés ont été importants et ont conduit à des restrictions fiscales. Pour cette raison et à la suite des mesures imposées par l’UE en mars 2013 sur le secteur bancaire de l’île, l’Église a pris à plusieurs fois la parole pour protéger ses intérêts et pour les mettre en relation avec le bien public et l’intérêt général. |
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| ISSN: | 1777-5825 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Archives de sciences sociales des religions
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.4000/assr.39246 |