RELIGIOUS FIGURES from Cyprus

Top 3

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Cypriot Religious Figures of all time. This list of famous Cypriot Religious Figures is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Saint Spyridon (270 - 348)

With an HPI of 67.03, Saint Spyridon is the most famous Cypriot Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 25 different languages on wikipedia.

Spyridon (Greek: Ἅγιος Σπυρίδων; c. 270 – 348) is a saint honoured in both the Eastern and Western Christian traditions.

2. John the Merciful (550 - 619)

With an HPI of 62.16, John the Merciful is the 2nd most famous Cypriot Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

John V Eleemon (Greek: Ἰωάννης ὁ Ἐλεήμων, romanized: Iōannēs ho Eleēmōn), also known as John the Almsgiver, John the Almoner, John the Compassionate, or John the Merciful, was the Chalcedonian/Melkite Patriarch of Alexandria in the early 7th century (from 606 to 616). He was born in Amathus around 560. Originally appointed by the emperor Heraclius, he later resisted attempts by the emperor to persecute the monophysites. At the end of his life he was obliged to flee back to Cyprus, where he died around 620. He was unusual for his time in a number of ways. He was a married man with children, was elected bishop as a layman, and became a saint without being a martyr. He is one of the very few Byzantine era saints to gain a following in the West. He was one of the saints in the Golden Legend. He became famous as the original patron of the order of St. John of the Hospital, the Hospitallers, one of the great Western crusading military orders. This order still survives as the Knights of Malta. In the British Commonwealth, the "St. John's Ambulance Corps" is named after him. He is considered a saint in both the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches. He is also the patron saint of Casarano, Italy and of Limassol, Cyprus. His "life" was written by his contemporary Leontius bishop of Neapolis in Cyprus, who seems to have known him personally.

3. Paul IV of Constantinople ( - 784)

With an HPI of 47.10, Paul IV of Constantinople is the 3rd most famous Cypriot Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Paul IV, known as Paul the New (Greek: Παῦλος; died December 784), was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 780 to 784. He had once opposed the veneration of icons but urged the calling of an ecumenical council to address the iconoclast controversy. Later, he resigned and retired to a monastery due to old age and illness. He was succeeded by Tarasios, who was a lay administrator at the time. Paul the New is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and his feast day is celebrated on August 30.