CYPRESS
Associated Press
April 18, 2019
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A senior cleric says Cyprus’ Orthodox Christian Church has for the first time defrocked a priest for sexually abusing his step-daughter when she was a child.
Kykkos Bishop Nikiforos said Wednesday the Holy Synod’s decision was unanimous.
The case shocked the conservative east-Mediterranean island nation after the 29-year-old victim was found dead in her home last month.
Many were outraged when local media revealed that the priest kept his job after a criminal court jailed him in 2013 for the same crime, which took place in the ’90s. His conviction was upheld on appeal.
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