The Most Famous

RELIGIOUS FIGURES from Cyprus

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This page contains a list of the greatest Cypriot Religious Figures. The pantheon dataset contains 3,187 Religious Figures, 3 of which were born in Cyprus. This makes Cyprus the birth place of the 68th most number of Religious Figures behind Libya, and Sudan.

Top 6

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.

Photo of John the Merciful

1. John the Merciful (550 - 619)

With an HPI of 62.86, John the Merciful is the most famous Cypriot Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages on wikipedia.

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.

Photo of Chrysostomos II of Cyprus

2. Chrysostomos II of Cyprus (1941 - 2022)

With an HPI of 53.77, Chrysostomos II of Cyprus is the 2nd most famous Cypriot Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Chrysostomos II (Greek: Χρυσόστομος Β΄; born Irodotos Dimitriou; Greek: Ηρόδοτος Δημητρίου; 10 April 1941 – 7 November 2022), was the Archbishop of Cyprus from 2006 to 2022.

Photo of Gregory II of Constantinople

3. Gregory II of Constantinople (1241 - 1290)

With an HPI of 50.53, Gregory II of Constantinople is the 3rd most famous Cypriot Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Gregory of Cyprus (Greek: Γρηγόριος ὁ Κύπριος, romanized: Grēgorios ho Kyprios; c. 1241 – c. 1290) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (as Gregory II) between 1283 and 1289.

Photo of Paul IV of Constantinople

4. Paul IV of Constantinople ( - 784)

With an HPI of 49.18, Paul IV of Constantinople is the 4th most famous Cypriot Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 18 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.

Photo of Aristobulus of Britannia

5. Aristobulus of Britannia (b. -50)

With an HPI of 44.01, Aristobulus of Britannia is the 5th most famous Cypriot Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Aristobulus of Britannia is a Christian saint named by Hippolytus of Rome (170–235) and Dorotheus of Gaza (505–565) as one of the Seventy Disciples mentioned in Luke 10:1–24 and as the first bishop in Roman Britain.

Photo of Andreas Cariolou

6. Andreas Cariolou (b. 1982)

With an HPI of 0.00, Andreas Cariolou is the 6th most famous Cypriot Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Andreas Pheobus Kariolou (Greek: Ανδρέας Φεοβος Καριόλου; born 24 November 1982) is a five-time Olympic windsurfer from Cyprus, racing for Kyrenia Nautical Club He accomplished thirteenth-place finishes at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, closely missing qualification into the medal race. At his third Olympics in London, Cariolou improved further in the men's event, but suffered a few bad races, which affected his position in the overall rankings, and ultimately ended up in seventeenth place. In Rio 2016 Olympics he was again close to the top 10 mid championship, but he ended in 19th place. After some time off, he returned to action in 2017 with a 16th place at the European Championship. In September 2019 he qualified for his 5th Olympic Games, which is an all-time record for Cyprus, being the first athlete from the island-nation to qualify for five Olympic Games. A few highlights from his career: 3rd place World Championship-2005 - Italy 6th place European Championship 2011- Bulgaria 8th place- Sailing World Cup final 2019- France Multiple medals in Athens Eurolymp sailing weeks Multiple times finalist in World Sailing Cup events 14 consecutive years National champion

People

Pantheon has 6 people classified as Cypriot religious figures born between 50 BC and 1982. Of these 6, 1 (16.67%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Cypriot religious figures include Andreas Cariolou. The most famous deceased Cypriot religious figures include John the Merciful, Chrysostomos II of Cyprus, and Gregory II of Constantinople. As of April 2024, 4 new Cypriot religious figures have been added to Pantheon including Chrysostomos II of Cyprus, Gregory II of Constantinople, and Aristobulus of Britannia.

Living Cypriot Religious Figures

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Deceased Cypriot Religious Figures

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Newly Added Cypriot Religious Figures (2024)

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