"I am a local, I was born in Colombia, in a village on the border with Venezuela, and I come from an Indian tribe," says Bishop Timothy of Assos as he recounts his relationship with Orthodoxy, Greece and Cyprus.
"I encountered Orthodoxy when I was about 11 years old. I happened to see on television Archbishop Makarios from Cyprus, who as President had visited Colombia," he says. "I saw him," he continues, "and I asked a Western priest, 'Who is the one they are showing on TV now, who visited Colombia?' And he told me that he is an archbishop who is a heretic, but an Anglican priest said to him, “No, he is not a heretic. He is Orthodox. And Orthodoxy is the Mother Church, and if you want to be a Christian, become Orthodox and search Orthodoxy and don't easily believe what they tell you."
Bishop Timothy states that his first visit to Cyprus took place in 2010, when a strong earthquake hit Haiti, causing the death of thousands of people and massive material damage, and he had come to receive humanitarian aid from Cyprus.
"I encountered Orthodoxy when I was about 11 years old. I happened to see on television Archbishop Makarios from Cyprus, who as President had visited Colombia," he says. "I saw him," he continues, "and I asked a Western priest, 'Who is the one they are showing on TV now, who visited Colombia?' And he told me that he is an archbishop who is a heretic, but an Anglican priest said to him, “No, he is not a heretic. He is Orthodox. And Orthodoxy is the Mother Church, and if you want to be a Christian, become Orthodox and search Orthodoxy and don't easily believe what they tell you."
Bishop Timothy states that his first visit to Cyprus took place in 2010, when a strong earthquake hit Haiti, causing the death of thousands of people and massive material damage, and he had come to receive humanitarian aid from Cyprus.
