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MPs Mr. Panicos Leonidou, leader and Mr. Efthymios Diplaros, member of the Cypriot delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of Orthodoxy (IPA), as well as MPs from Armenia and Poland, participated in a mission of the Assembly, led by Mr.
As part of its mission, the IACO delegation was received by the President of the Senate of Poland, Mr. Tomasz Grodzki. Mr Leonidou also had a meeting with the First Vice-President of the Sejm of Poland, Mr Ryszard Terlecki. During the meetings, Mr Leonidou noted the close relations and cooperation between the two countries and their Parliaments in the bilateral, European and international context and, in particular, the participation of the Parliaments of Cyprus and Poland, as founding members, in the IOA, which this year completes 30 years of uninterrupted institutional operation and action. He particularly noted the IOA's interventions in the context of the Dialogue on the Future of Europe, with the aim of including references to the Christian background of European civilisation and the Christian roots of the European peoples. Leonidou underlined the clear position taken from the beginning by the Assembly in condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, stressing that this war is an open wound for Europe and at the same time a deep trauma for Orthodoxy, between two countries that are founding members of the IOA and, by extension, between two peoples with common religious and cultural traditions. Mr Leonidou stressed that Cyprus continues to suffer the consequences of the Turkish invasion and occupation of part of its territory since 1974, including the falsification of historical memory through the systematic destruction of cultural and religious heritage in the occupied part of Cyprus: The Temples of the Wisdom of God around the World", at the Holy Metropolitan Church of the Annunciation in Suprasl in eastern Poland, as part of the Assembly's global campaign to raise international awareness of the conversion of Istanbul's Hagia Sophia into a mosque. He also referred to the presence of the IOA delegation at the consecration ceremony of the Church of the Divine Wisdom in Warsaw, at the invitation of the Metropolitan of Warsaw and All Poland, Mr. Savva.
In his speeches, as head of the IOA delegation, Mr. Leonidou pointed out that the Assembly, since its foundation in 1993, has been working consistently and dedicatedly for the unity of Orthodoxy, contributing to the preservation and promotion of Christian principles in Europe. He also noted the action taken by the IOA to awaken the international community to the urgent need to protect Christian monuments that are being destroyed or desecrated and, in particular, the Assembly's initiative aimed at overturning the Turkish leadership's arbitrary decision to turn Hagia Sophia into a mosque.
Leonidou also had a meeting with the Polish Primate of the Catholic Church in Poland, Archbishop of Warsaw, Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz. Leonidou underlined the IUCN's commitment to the promotion of Christian principles and values in the contemporary world, which it promotes through partnerships and initiatives with other inter-parliamentary organisations and institutions, including organisations of Catholic and other denominations and religions. Common concerns and reflections were expressed about the consequences of the war in Ukraine, both at the social level with the influx of millions of refugees into Poland and in inter-church relations between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.
Moreover, in the framework of the IOA mission, meetings were held with local and ecclesiastical leaders of the city of Bialystok and the wider region near the border with Belarus, where most of Poland's Orthodox community resides. During the meetings, there was an exchange of views on living conditions and ways of preserving the religious heritage of this community.
(Text as sent by the House of Representatives)
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