The technician and maintenance worker at the Monastery of Saint Neophytos, who was seriously injured with a sharp instrument last Friday, is recovering satisfactorily. According to testimonies, the monk who carried the instrument had been targeting the monastery’s Abbot, Leontios. The worker stepped in to try to prevent the Abbot from being injured, together with a 27-year-old novice monk.
He was injured in the neck by the box cutter the attacking monk was holding. Doctors have described him as fortunate in his misfortune, since the wound was just a few millimetres from the carotid artery.
The 27-year-old novice monk, who also became involved in the incident while trying to protect the Abbot, was not seriously injured. He was taken to the emergency department and discharged the same day.
According to a reference made during last Sunday’s sermon at the Monastery of Saint Neophytos itself, the young monk’s tonsure will take place on August 16, performed by the Metropolitan of Kition, Nektarios.
The Monastery of Saint Neophytos has continued operating as normal following the unprecedented incident involving the monk who injured the two men. According to reports, the monk had been asked to hand over the keys to the cells he was using, over alleged disobedience and insubordination towards the monastery’s programme and the Abbot’s instructions.
After his arrest, the monk indicated the location where he had left the box cutter used to injure both victims. He appeared before the District Court the day after his arrest, which issued a six-day detention order against him to facilitate the police investigation. Investigators in the case still have to take around 35 more witness statements to complete their investigation into the incident, the court was told.
