Anniversary messages

Few are the days on which my thoughts, as a Freemason, stray far from the principles and ideals of the Order.

From that first moment when I heard the harmonious sound of the gavels and the words of the Worshipful Master, love for the Order of Freemasons took root within me. Ever since, my conscience has remained turned towards the East. For the East is not merely a point of the compass; it is the place whence the Light comes, and towards which every Freemason walks throughout his life.

As we approach the close of the second decade of the fruitful and steadfast course of the Grand Lodge of Cyprus, and take pride in nearly one hundred and fifty years of Masonic Lodges working on our island, the weight of our responsi bility is multiplied. A heritage is not only a gift; it is also a debt owed to those who will come after us. But first of all, let us allow our thoughts to turn for a while towards the master builders: those who laid the cornerstone upon which the future of Freemasonry in our land would stand. Just is the praise, and eternal the gratitude, owed to these stonemasons of the new great Temple.

My Brethren, let us stand for a moment, still and silent, and in that solemn silence light a candle upon the candelabrum of memory for our Brethren who have passed to the Eternal East.

Special mention is owed to those who helped to create and establish the Grand Lodge of Cyprus. How could I fail to recall the names of those who have served as Grand Master: the first Grand Master, M∴ W∴ Bro∴ Ivikkos Vorkas, and M∴ W∴ Brethren Panagiotis Ioannou, Petros Machalepis and Andreas Charalambous. And with them, all the other Brethren who, “each at the post to which he was appointed”, have served Cypriot Freemasonry.

Warm thanks are due also to the three Grand Lodges of Austria, Pennsylvania and Greece, which together consecrated the Grand Lodge of Cyprus on 8 October 2006.

Twenty years have passed, and the gavels still sound in unbroken harmony. Their sound fills us all with pride in what we have achieved so far, and with zeal and enthusiasm for the days to come: days full of philosophical, spiritual and charitable work, ever inspired by all that the Freemasons before us have bequeathed. Ours is the responsibility to pass the torch of these values and ideals to the younger Freemasons, who are called to live and work in a chaotic world, in which every principle and every tradition is shaken and called into question. Through its teachings, Freemasonry is called to stand as a bulwark against the decay of our age. In a rapidly changing world it must continually attune and renew itself, so that it may remain the refuge of free-thinking men. To renew itself without ceasing to be itself: this is the paradox, and the wisdom, of every living tradition.

We, the Freemasons of Cyprus, may rightly feel content and fulfilled, for our own Grand Lodge, through many difficulties and adversities, has achieved much.

Giorgos Seferis once wrote of our land as a place enclosed. An island at the edge of the sea: such is our land. An island that has known war, misfortune and displacement, yet has stood firm, has endured, and rises continually from its own ashes. Here, free men of good report achieved what once seemed impossible: that Cyprus should have a Grand Lodge of its own, firmly established and in mutual recognition with almost all the regular Grand Lodges of the world. Perhaps it is precisely a land that knows enclosure which best learns the value of open doors and outstretched hands. My Brethren, from the depths of my soul I warmly thank all of you who celebrate with us the twenty years of life of the Grand Lodge of Cyprus. I assure you that our journey towards the Eternal Light continues, and that this Light gives meaning and worth to our every word, our every work and our every thought.

On the occasion of the celebrations marking twenty years since the Grand Lodge of Cyprus first began its Labours, I address to all its members a sincere and heartfelt salutation of brotherly love, concord and fraternity.

Every Freemason should regard Freemasonry as a universal Fraternity, whose influence extends across the whole world. Its Lodges are many, its languages many, its Orients scattered over every continent; yet the Light that burns within them is one.

We know that Freemasonry has given to mankind leaders, men of high spiritual stature, who led it from bondage to deliverance, from ignorance to Light, from despair to hope. All of this, however, depends upon the conduct of each one of us. The great works of the Craft are not accomplished by the institution alone, but by the individual Brother, in the quiet workshop of his own conscience. The true Freemason must serve as an example in his works, his words and his deeds. He must spare no effort to inspire others, those less enlightened than himself and not yet initiated, to follow in his footsteps through life; and he will teach them less by what he says than by what he is.

It is our highest duty to strive and to labour so that the universal Masonic ideal may become the possession of as many people as possible; not through persuasion or proclamation, but through the silent eloquence of example.

Yet the foundation upon which both our own Masonic formation and the wider spread of Masonic principles throughout the world must rest is compassion, concord, brotherhood and love. This last we call the very foundation of our system, and you are bound to continue to practise it. Love is the cement which the trowel spreads between the stones of the Temple; without it, even the most perfectly hewn ashlars remain nothing more than scattered stones. At this hour, as we celebrate twenty years since the gavels of the Grand Lodge of Cyprus first sounded, I consider it necessary to stress these truths, in the hope that you will continue, willingly and faithfully, to offer yourselves to a Masonic work that is fertile and fruitful for all time. Twenty years are but a moment in the life of an idea; may they prove to be the first courses of a Temple which Brethren not yet born will continue to raise.

Twenty years: 2006-2026. For History, the briefest of intervals; for Freemasonry, a single heartbeat. For us, however, the workmen of the Grand Lodge of Cyprus, twenty years mark an entire era: the era of our coming of age.

On 15 January 2006, in Nicosia, with the raising of the Light and the founding of the Grand Lodge of Cyprus by the regular Lodges then working on the island, the ardent longing of generations of Cypriot Freemasons was fulfilled: that Cypriot Freemasonry should at last possess a voice of its own, sovereign, independent and self - governing.

It was neither an accident nor a foregone conclusion. It was the fruit of faith, patience, diplomatic effort and fraternal unity We owe eternal gratitude to the Founding Brethren, to the first Grand Masters, and to all who laboured unseen so that the foundations might be laid. Every Temple rests upon stones that no eye beholds, and it is precisely these that bear its weight.

As one of those who have served in the supreme office of Grand Master, I carry a deep awareness of both its honour and its burden. I served an institution that has never been an end in itself. The Grand Lodge of Cyprus was not founded to add one more title to the world, but to serve. To serve Man, through his moral perfection. To serve the Homeland, through the cultivation of virtuous citizens. To serve Truth, through the search for Light.

Throughout this twenty-year journey, our Grand Lodge has proved worthy of the history and civilisation of Cyprus. Recognised by most of the regular Grand Lodges throughout the world, it has stood as an equal interlocutor and a respected partner within the universal Masonic family. It has safeguarded Regularity, advanced the Masonic work, and shown that Freemasonry in Cyprus is a living organism, with roots in the past and a vision for the future. Like the olive tree of our island, it draws its strength from deep roots and bears its fruit patiently, season after season.

This anniversary is not merely an occasion for remembrance, but above all an occasion for reflection and responsibility; for memory that does not become duty is no more than nostalgia.

The duty of the generations to come is heavier than our own: to preserve unity, to defend the independence of the Grand Lodge, and to pass on the torch of Light unharmed, pure and whole, as we received it. To found is the act of a single moment; to preserve is the labour of a lifetime.

The completion of twenty years since the official establishment of the Grand Lodge of Cyprus is a milestone of particular importance in the history of Cypriot Freemasonry. It is an occasion not only for celebration, but also for reflection, for taking stock, and for careful thought about the future.

In 2006 a vision of many decades became reality. Cyprus, an independent and sovereign state, acquired its own independent and sovereign Grand Lodge. Today, twenty years later, our first duty is to pay a tribute of honour and gratitude to the Brethren who envisioned this great undertaking, believed in it and laboured to bring it about. At the same time we honour all those who, throughout these two decades, have served the Grand Lodge of Cyprus and contributed, each from his own station, to its consolidation, its growth and its international presence.

I too had the singular honour and the exceptional privilege of serving the Grand Lodge of Cyprus in the supreme office of Grand Master. That period remains the most significant chapter of my Masonic journey. Beyond the honour it bestowed upon me, it led me to a deeper realisation: in Freemasonry, offices are transient, while the mission and the responsibility that accompany them endure. Every Brother, whatever his office, is a link in an unbroken chain that joins those who went before to those who serve today and, through them, to those who will follow.

We receive from those who preceded us, we serve for the time allotted to us, and we hand on to those who come after.

And perhaps this, precisely, is our greatest responsibility.

For, twenty years on, it is not enough to reflect only on what we have achieved. We must ask ourselves: “What kind of Grand Lodge do we wish to hand on to the generations of Brethren still to come?” I have always believed, and I still believe, that the true strength of Freemasonry does not lie in numbers. It lies in the quality of its members; in the Brotherhood that binds them; in their devotion to the Principles, to Masonic order and to the Landmarks; and in the daily effort of each one to become a better man, for himself, for his family and for society. A Temple is not made great by the number of its stones, but by how truly each of them has been squared. That is why one of the principles I sought to serve throughout my term was always clear: quality before quantity.

Freemasonry is not merely a charitable organisation, nor is it confined to the performance of Ritual. Charity is our duty, and Ritual an inseparable foundation of our work. Our deeper mission, however, remains the moral and spiritual cultivation of man: to receive good men and, through Masonic labour, to place in their hands the working tools by which they may become better.

The world of 2026 is very different from that of 2006. Technological progress, Artificial Intelligence and new forms of communication are transforming, at unprecedented speed, the way we live, work and think.

Yet in a world that changes at a geometric pace, there are values that must not change, and for the Freemason they do not: Brotherhood, Integrity, Justice, Tolerance, Respect for one’s fellow man and Service to society. We who hold Geometry in honour know that it is the science not only of growth, but of measure and proportion. These Masonic values do not belong to any one age; they are timeless. And perhaps today the world needs them more than ever. The challenge for the decades ahead is therefore clear: to evolve without losing our essence. To modernise without drifting from our roots. To grow without sacrificing quality. To serve society without forgetting the deeper purpose of our Masonic work.

On this special anniversary, I would also like to reaffirm a personal vision, which I expressed during my term as Grand Master and in which I still deeply believe: One Grand Lodge for the whole of Cyprus. A sovereign Grand Lodge that may one day become the common Masonic home of all regular Freemasons living in Cyprus, regardless of ethnic origin or language.

The distinctive and often painful history of our homeland has left divisions and wounds known to us all. Yet I believe that we, as Freemasons, possess the tools to seek out what unites people rather than what divides them. The level reminds us that we all meet upon it as equals, and the trowel that our true work is to bind, not to separate.

Brotherhood knows no ethnic origin.

Tolerance knows no language.

Justice makes no distinctions.

And the Light we seek belongs to all.

My vision, therefore, remains the one I have expressed in the past: that the regular Freemasons who live in Cyprus may one day work together, in brotherly love, mutual respect and devotion to our common principles, beneath one common Masonic roof: the Grand Lodge of Cyprus.

I know that such a vision is not easily fulfilled; great visions selfdom are. But I believed then, as I believe now, that where there is genuine will, fraternal spirit, mutual respect and devotion to our common principles and values, a way can be found. Every Temple was once no more than a design upon the tracing board.

Let this twentieth anniversary, then, be not only a moment of pride in what has been achieved, but also an opportunity to look towards the future with courage and optimism.

With deep emotion for all that has gone before, with gratitude to those who opened the way, and with confidence in those who will continue upon it, I pray that the Grand Lodge of Cyprus may journey through the coming decades united, strong, sovereign and steadfastly devoted to the principles and ideals of Freemasonry. The first twenty years are now our history.

The next twenty are our responsibility.