Gay sex crimes

The Cypriot man bludgeoned to death at the derelict ruins of the Beau Rivage hotel on the Larnaca-Dhekelia Road paid the ultimate price of his life for a homosexual tryst. 

The CM is a bit scanty on the details of the case, but it is mystifying to me that this murder was reduced to a manslaughter charge, on the grounds that the killer, Stelios Mavroloukas (32) was acting in self-defence against unwanted sexual advances from the murder victim, Angelos Phedonos (46). 

Mavroloukas claimed that Phedonos tried to force him to have gay sex, threatening to harm his family if he didn't.  Mavroloukas said that his intention was to slap him "a couple of times" and scare him off, but not to kill him.   

So why had he arranged to meet an older gay man at an abandoned building site in the first place?  And why did he take a weapon (a wooden handle) to the meeting? 

The victim had 5 fatal head injuries and other bodily wounds.  At what point did Mavroloukas think this was just a slap?  He claimed he only knew about his death the day he was arrested. 

To me, this sounds like a violent sex game gone wrong. 

Mavroloukas got 15 years.

One of my gay Cypriot friends told me that many gay men and women in Cyprus try to hide their homosexuality with sham marriages, while practising in secret.  The Cyprus military still bars homosexuals by law.  Gay sexual conduct is a crime in Cypriot military law, the penalty for which is 6 months’ imprisonment, although this is rarely enforced.  Gay Cypriots suffer great shame and social stigma in a culture that upholds traditional gender roles on “manly” men and “feminine” women. 

Pope Francis recently made headlines by formally responding to a group of gay and lesbian Italian Catholics.  While practising Catholics believe homosexual acts are sinful and immoral – just as all sexual acts outside consecrated marriage are, including adultery, fornication, pornography, etc. because such acts are essentially anti-creation and therefore anti-life and anti-God – the predilection, desire or inclination towards homosexuality is not. 

But as one priest I know once said, “The problem with all sin is that it tends to generate other sins.”  Had Phedonos and Mavroloukas not arranged a sordid homosexual encounter, Phedonos might still be alive today, and Mavroloukas would not be in prison. 

I remember the Beau Rivage in the '80s when it was a charming 3* hotel with beautifully manicured lawns surrounding a clean, well maintained swimming pool.  Many happy an afternoon was spent there.  Nowadays it is a burnt out shell, a crumbling eyesore in the tourist district of Larnaca, and a murder scene.  It should be razed to the ground. 

Added 18/11/2013 - Tourists should beware of bogus websites and travel agencies that are still selling rooms for this hotel with outdated photos as if it is still in business.  It is not.  See Footsteps's follow-up post.  

For in many things we all offend.  If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man.  He is able also with a bridle to lead about the whole body.  - James 3:2 (D-R)

Typhoon Haiyan

Nice to see the Cyprus Mail putting the Catholic Church in Cyprus on their front page splash for a change, although only in print edition, not on their website, strangely.  

"Cyprus gears up to join aid efforts" according to the CM's headline today.  That should read:  

Catholics in Cyprus gear up to join aid efforts.

Photo credit:  Huffington Post

As Footsteps reported six days ago, Catholic parishes in Cyprus are collecting donations for disaster relief in the Philippines.  The CM confirms we are working in conjunction with the Filipino Consulate in Nicosia.

According to the Filipino Honorary Consul, Shemaine Alonso Bushnell-Kyriakides, the following items are most urgently needed:

• medicine for fever - aspirin, panadol, paracetamol, etc.
• medicine for wounds - bandages, plaster rolls, antibacterial ointments & liquids
• baby food and milk formula 
• baby nappies
• cash

I imagine that bottled water and/or non-perishable food items are also very welcome.  The Filipino Consulate in Nicosia is reportedly now negotiating with cargo companies and airlines re: transport.

Photo credit:  The Financial Times (UK)

For residents of Nicosia and environs, donations may be dropped off at the Filipino Consulate at the George & Thelma Paraskevaides Foundation Building, 36 Grivas Dighenis Avenue, Nicosia.  Open Mon-Fri 9 am – 1 pm.  Or, any other day or time at the Holy Cross Catholic Church, near Paphos Gate, Nicosia.  Map here.  Tel. Fr. Zach 96 367710.

Elsewhere in Cyprus, drop off aid at your local Catholic parish church.  Every major town on the island has one, including Kyrenia.  For further info, call Fr. Zach in Nicosia as above, or Fr. Gabriel in Larnaca on 24 642858. Or go to a Sunday Mass.  

It would be nice to hear of airlines that operate connecting flights from Larnaca to Manila donating free cargo space for the transport of aid.  Emirates, Royal Jordanian, Gulf Air and Aeroflot are all in a position to do so.  Or perhaps RAF Akrotiri could step in.  

Pray the Rosary for the people of the Philippines. 

Suffer the little children to come unto me

Anti-Catholics, lapsed Catholics, atheists and secularists like to play the child abuse card when attempting to attack the Catholic Church. 

The case of the convicted paedophile Orthodox priest from Ergates village (Nicosia District) highlights that child abuse is a universal plague. 

Paedophilia is a shocking and heinous crime and a grave sin not bound by country, nationality, age, gender, social class, occupation, or faith.  It is part of the Devil’s work on earth.

 

Equally heinous is the culture of collusion that often accompanies the abuse:  the blind defence of the abuser and the condemnation of the victim.  Villagers from Ergates who attended the court hearing in support of their priest were reportedly angry at the “unfair” sentence of 18 months (part of which he has already served in custody).  According to Politis newspaper, the CM reports, the priest’s wife verbally cursed the victim, now an adult woman, and said she wanted her to burn [in Hell?].  The victim had allegedly also filed a complaint against the wife for physically abusing her when she was a child in their foster care. 

It is difficult to understand how any right-thinking woman could defend her husband after sexually abusing a child, but it is not unheard of.  The 2008 Fritzl case in Austria springs to mind.  Perhaps denial kicks in as a coping mechanism:  the only way for the abuser’s spouse to preserve her sanity and deal with something so abominable is to rationalise it (falsely), make believe that it is acceptable or just not true, while demonising the victim.  If it’s the victim’s “fault” then the person you loved can’t be responsible.  It’s a delusion of course.

That priest’s wife needs counselling.  What are the villagers of Ergates or the authorities doing to help her?  She will have to live with the shame of her husband’s crime for the rest of her life.  And what will happen when he gets out of jail?  Will he return to his priestly duties?

see no evil, hear no evil...

Communities also club together in tacit collusion, as in the recent Jimmy Savile case in England, where members of the BBC, the police, school staff and NHS hospital staff were allegedly aware of his behaviour but turned a blind eye because Savile was “too powerful” or “too popular” and ... he raised millions of £ for them. 

I worked for 5 years for a charity in the UK that provided free support for women sexually abused in childhood.  On a telephone helpline, I listened to women, often in their 40s, 50s or older, who were only just beginning to come to terms with what had happened to them in their childhood; only just finding the words to tell their painful stories, 30 or 40 years after the events.  Many suffered with chronic depression and anxiety, nightmares, flashbacks, eating disorders, drug or alcohol addictions or both, and self-harmed or self-abused.  Some had suicidal thoughts.  A few had developed DID (dissociative identity disorder, or multiple personality disorder) as a way of coping.  All had problems in their interpersonal relationships.  They could not trust easily.  Part of their healing process was to learn to talk to a stranger about their experiences.

So I commend that Cypriot woman who found the courage and strength to report the priest and foster-father who abused her.  Her healing process has begun. It might also encourage other victims of childhood sexual abuse in Cyprus to come forward.  

Whatever is hidden will eventually come to light. 

There is a wealth of information on the Catholic Church’s response to the child abuse scandals here.  

God of endless love,ever caring, ever strong,always present, always just: You gave your only Son to save us by the blood of his cross.

Gentle Jesus, shepherd of peace,join to your own suffering the pain of all who have been hurt in body, mind, and spirit by those who betrayed the trust placed in them.

Hear our cries as we agonise over the harm done to our brothers and sisters. Breathe wisdom into our prayers,soothe restless hearts with hope, steady shaken spirits with faith: Show us the way to justice and wholeness,enlightened by truth and enfolded in your mercy.

Holy Spirit, comforter of hearts,heal your people’s wounds and transform our brokenness.Grant us courage and wisdom, humility and grace,so that we may act with justice and find peace in you.

We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Corporate greed feeds personal greed

Children in Cyprus have one of the highest obesity rates in Europe, Poly Pantelides reports in the CM today.  Why does this not surprise me? 

The number of kids I see stuffing their faces on burgers and chips and ice cream on Larnaca seafront every weekend while their parents look on blithely is surpassed only by the number of designer handbags their mummies carry. 

The mums are usually stick thin and self-consciously elegant.  One wonders then why they encourage their kids to turn into diabetic roly-polies with eating disorders and low self-esteem. 

Is it an attempt to keep the kids quiet and subdued? That’s not working – most Cypriot kids are loud and unruly with non-existent table manners.  It can’t be ignorance about a proper diet since the mums know how apply it to themselves.  Or is it ignorance or lack of choice about what to do at the weekends other than go to a cafe? 

Truth be told, I like seeing whole families hang out together in Cyprus – it’s one of the great strengths of Cypriot society.  Unlike other parts of Europe where many families are fragmented and warped:  single mums, divorced "weekend dads", gay "parents" or no parents - teenagers in state care homes or living on the streets. 

But whole families don’t always mean healthy families. 

A common sight in cafes here is dad watching football on an overhead screen, not talking to bored wife who is on her mobile phone facebooking or texting her friends/lover, in between admonishing but not really paying attention to bored kid(s) stuffing face. 

Most Cypriot mums are working mums these days:  they need to in order to keep up with the Joneses (the Ioannous) and get those designer handbags.  Cypriot kids are routinely put into after school clubs, private tutorial lessons, or looked after by grandma until mum and dad come home.  Then they eat.  Most Cypriot men would rather be seen dead than cook (unless it’s a “manly” barbecue).  Tired women make bad cooks.  It’s easier and quicker to buy a bumper pack of ready-made reconstituted chicken brains and bones. 

Food is the focal point of most social gatherings in Cyprus.  Not always a bad thing: it requires generosity, hospitality and social skills.  But the proliferation of fast food chains, takeaway pizzas and junk food on the island has changed the way people behave and look. 

Perhaps if the average Cypriot family was less concerned with acquiring the latest Range Rover the next generation will not be such a huge drain on the public health system, which all taxpayers in Cyprus and the rest of the EU will have to pay for.

O Jesus, who chose a life of poverty and obscurity, grant me the grace to keep my heart detached from the transitory things of this world.  Let it be that henceforth, You are my only treasure, for You are infinitely more precious than all other possessions.  My heart is too solicitous for the vain and fleeting things of earth.  Make me always mindful of Your warning words:  “What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world, but suffer the loss of his own soul?”  Grant me the grace to keep Your holy example always before my eyes, that I may despise the nothingness of this world and make You the object of all my desires and affection.  Amen. 

In search of Cyprus poppies

Thirty thousand Cypriots fought for the Allies during World War II.  Rather mystifying then that Cyprus does little to honour Remembrance Day, unlike other Commonwealth countries. 

The Cyprus Regiment (1940-1950) was created by the British Army following the invasion of Greece.  Conscription was not imposed on Cyprus, then under British colonial rule, but 6,000 Greek- and Turkish-Cypriots signed up voluntarily to support the Allied forces under British command.  More followed.  

Before the war ended, more than 30,000 Cypriots had served at Dunkirk, in the Battle of Greece, in North Africa, France, the Middle East, and Italy.  Many were captured and interned in German POW camps, including the notorious Stalag camps in German-occupied Eastern Europe and in Germany, where many died. 

In the post-war years, the Cyprus Regiment served in Cyprus and the Middle East, including Palestine. 

Why, then, is there not a poppy in sight on the lapels of Cypriots this week?  As for buying one in Cyprus, they're harder to find than a vegetarian at a souvla party. 

Perhaps Cyprus has enough economic woes without funding the Royal British Legion, but I see no reason why there can’t be an equivalent Cyprus Legion to honour those who gave up their lives in world war.  Even some non-Commonwealth countries honour this day, e.g. the US, where it’s called Veterans Day.  Cyprus didn’t get the memo. 

The poppy is a powerful universal symbol of wartime bloodshed.  Not only British blood.  Not just a British symbol.  The imagery was taken from the First World War poem In Flanders Fields (BTW, that’s in Belgium) written by Lt. Col. John McCrae (who was Canadian) but most importantly, we all bleed red.  Maybe some think theirs is an aristocratic blue? 

Just as it is important to remember all those who died in the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus – the symbol of the divided island dripping blood with the motto Δεν Ξεχνώ (Den Ksechno - I do not forget) is not so different from the poppy conceptually – so do all those who died in the line of duty deserve remembrance, lest we forget the horrors of war.

We shall remember them.

Remembrance Sunday Service for the Anglican community in Cyprus

St. Paul’s Cathedral, Nicosia

Sunday 10^th November 2013

9:30 a.m. 

All things have their season, and in their times all things pass under heaven.  A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. A time to kill, and a time to heal. A time to destroy, and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather. A time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. A time to get, and a time to lose. A time to keep, and a time to cast away.  A time to rend, and a time to sew. A time to keep silence, and a time to speak. A time of love, and a time of hatred. A time of war, and a time of peace. -Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (D-R)

The world is disfigured internally ... but this man is not

Photo credit: Claudio Peri/EPA

I first saw this powerful image over on Bones's blog. 

Jonathan Jones writing in The Guardian sums it up well:

"you who seek to lead, look at this picture, it has a message for you."

Christ has no body now on earth but yours: no hands but yours: no feet but yours.  Yours are the eyes through which must look out Christ's compassion on our world.  Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good.  Yours are the hands with which he is to bless mankind now.

- St. Teresa of Avila

Give unto your servants that which is just and equal

While Cyprus is trying to weather the storm of the eurozone crisis, others have worse storms to deal with. 

 

Super typhoon Haiyan has plunged the Philippines into chaos, forcing more than 100,000 people out of their homes.  This, in the wake of the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that rocked the country last month, leaving more than 200 people dead, 1,000 injured, and 350,000 homeless.

Over the last 25 years or so, a sizeable Filipino community has grown in Cyprus.  Most are female migrant workers in low-paid domestic service jobs:  live-in housemaids, full-time carers for the elderly, cooks, cleaners, etc.  Some are "lucky" to get factory jobs, which afford a slightly better wage.  Some have been trafficked and forced into the sex industry.  Some marry local men.  Most send the little money they earn back to their families.  Many have children in their home countries whom they haven't seen for years.  

Would you want this for your family?

Many migrant workers on this island are exploited by their tyrannical and ignorant Cypriot employers, who treat them as little more than slaves.  Long working hours, poor wages, harsh conditions, deprivation of human rights such as denied internet or telephone access to their families back home, no normal time off, and no normal social life.  In some cases they cannot practise their religion freely, e.g. if a Holy Day of Obligation falls on a working weekday, they still have to work.  Some have to fend off unwanted sexual advances from their male bosses.  To complain runs the risk of losing their job and livelihood, or possible deportation.  It’s put up or shut up.

 

I knew one Filipino lady, in her 50s, who worked 17 hours a day as a housekeeper in Larnaca, from 7 a.m. until midnight, 6 days a week.  I know because I saw her at work in my neighbour’s house and garden.  She would be given pointless tasks such as sweeping leaves into a pile - not into a bin.  So the leaves would blow away and the chore would have to be repeated the next day, mindlessly.  She was not allowed to eat until after the mistress of the house had finished eating, and she always had to eat alone in her ‘maid’s room’.  She was not allowed to watch television, or have her own tv or laptop in her room.  She had one day off a week (Sundays).  The grim set of her jaw and the suffering in her eyes told her story.  She had children in the Philippines and she was a widow.  Thankfully, she eventually escaped from that monster house, and madam now has to sweep her yard herself, hahaha. 

I know of another Filipino girl in Larnaca whose Cypriot employer allows her a couple of hours off on a Sunday morning to go to church, after which she must return immediately to fix her boss his daily sandwich.  If he doesn’t get his sandwich at noon, he flies into a rage.

These are not isolated stories, but many migrants in Cyprus are reluctant to speak about them for fear of reprisals.  Add language barriers, cultural, religious and social divides, and a possible mistrust of “rich” Europeans, and the plight of migrant workers in Cyprus goes largely ignored, except among their own communities.   

As a young republic, Cyprus loves harping on about the struggle against colonialism and imperialism of old, especially in October, the month of two nationalist holidays (snore).  The irony is Cypriots have become a new kind of imperialistic slave trader themselves. 

Nouveaux riches Cypriot women love complaining that it’s “so tiresome” to have to train new housemaids who “don’t know anything” or can’t cook Cypriot food properly (that world famous, well known cuisine...), and isn’t it scary that they might have their jewellery stolen while they’re out playing conquian and getting their nail art done?  Life’s so hard. 

While middle class Cypriots are crying into their frappes over EU austerity measures, salary cuts, and new taxes, they still take their foreign labourers for granted and treat them like second-class citizens.  They moan about migrants “changing the culture of the island”, forgetting that if the entire migrant population of Cyprus suddenly left, the service industries would collapse, the aged would sit in their own urine and faeces, and, there would certainly be no one to sweep their yards.  Perhaps Cyprus has forgotten the 1953 earthquake in Paphos which resulted in 63 deaths.  Let's not mention the 1974 war...  Heaven preserve us from national disasters, but let us help all those who do suffer them. 

A good start would be for the Cyprus government to start enforcing the law on migrant workers’ rights, crack down on corrupt, exploitative employers, and step up on education and awareness of ethnic diversity issues.  The whole Hellenic, “one nation” thing is an anachronistic dinosaur.  If Cyprus is to continue receiving handouts from richer European countries, which it currently depends on, then that comes with a package.  European funding means a European standard of living for all.  Migration is a modern European reality that’s not going to go away.  It’s time Cyprus started treating all its labour force with equal respect.  

KISA is a Nicosia-based NGO that focuses on migration, asylum, racism, and discrimination issues and human trafficking in Cyprus.  It operates a Migrant Refugee Centre that provides free support, advocacy and mediation services.  Tel. 22 878181 / 99 772743.  E-mail: info@kisa.org.cy 

  

Emergency Disaster Relief for the Philippines

Our Lady of Graces Catholic Church, Larnaca is collecting donations for the Philippines.  Info from the parish office:  tel. 24 642858.  Or come to a Sunday Mass 9:30 a.m. 

Prayer for Migrants and Refugees

Pope Francis criticises treatment of migrants as 'pawns'