According to TASS with reference to the Fileleftheros newspaper, 11 out of 16 members of the Holy Synod of the Cypriot Orthodox Church voted for him.
According to the results of the vote of the Orthodox flock of the island on December 18, Metropolitan George was in second place with 18.39% of the votes, being almost two times lower than the result of Metropolitan Athanasius (Nikolau) of Limassol ( 35.68%). . However, the voting is structured as follows: in the first stage, the Orthodox citizens of the island vote, choosing the three most popular clergymen; in the second stage, the Holy Synod elects the head of the church from among them.
By placing in the top three and advancing to the second round, Metropolitan Georgiy secured his victory: the balance of power in the synod was initially in his favor.
The new primate of the Cypriot Orthodox Church is 73 years old. He was close to the late Primate of the Church of Cyprus Chrysostom II and became the last of the hierarchs to visit him a few hours before his death in the Archiepiscopal Palace of Nicosia. On the eve of the elections, Jorge had the support of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who, according to the Cypriot press, strove to weaken the electoral positions of other candidates, Metropolitans Athanasius and Isaiah. The latter, together with Metropolitan Nicephorus of Kykkos and Tilliria and Bishop Nicholas of Amaphunta, openly opposed in 2020 the commemoration by Chrysostom II during the divine service of the name of Epiphanius (Dumenko), head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), for which the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) does not recognize canonical status.
