Cyprus Church leader Archbishop Chrysostomos II laid to rest

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS
Associated Press

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The leader of Cyprus’ Orthodox Church Chrysostomos II has been laid to rest with all the ceremony of centuries of ecclesiastical tradition. He was eulogized as his church’s greatest reformer and an outspoken fighter for his people. The spiritual head of the world’s 300 million Orthodox, Istanbul-based Patriarch Bartholomew  presided over Saturday’s funeral service at the St. Barnabas Cathedral at the church’s headquarters in Nicosia. Chrysostomos died Monday at 81 after a four-year battle with intestinal and liver cancer. He was buried in a specially designed crypt in the cathedral that will be the resting place of all future archbishops. He was praised by dignitaries for his work in helping those most in need.