Sir,
It gives me great pleasure to approach the Latin Catholic Community of Cyprus
through these lines and acquaint them (or at least those who came to Cyprus
recently) with details concerning our religious group.
Our Community is officially called the Latin Religious Group due to local
historic reasons when Cyprus became independent in 1960, and the Constitution of
the Republic of Cyprus was written.
The Constitution very clearly recognises three religious groups: the Latins
(i.e. Catholics of European and other descent) the Maronites (Catholics of
Lebanese descent), and Armenians.
In addition, the Constitution gives to each one of these communities the right
to have a Representative in the House of Representatives, who takes care of the
needs and requirements of the members of his community.
The Representative is not the political spokesman of the members of his
community; he acts as a liaison between his community. Therefore, Cypriot Latin
Catholics have the right to vote twice; one vote to elect their Representative,
and one vote to elect Members of Parliament, who represent political parties.
The various government ministers exchange views and discuss matters concerning a
religious group only through the elected Representative. This policy has been
reconfirmed lately in writing by the various ministries.
It is our steadfast policy to try and increase the officially registered Cypriot
Latins, so that we may strengthen our group. Our number can increase and reach a
membership of over 1600/1700 Cypriot citizen Latin Catholics.
In addition, we estimate that there are approximately 1300-1400 Latin Catholics
here of various nationalities, with whom we are in contact concerning their
needs.
The constant attempts to increase our numbers can be achieved only with the full
cooperation and understanding of Latin Catholics. Therefore, I appeal to Latins
who have acquired Cypriot citizenship to approach me so that we may join forces
to increase our official presence for the benefit of our community. |
