By Carmen B. Llauderes

The Holy Cross Catholic Church in Nicosia was filled with different parishioners to celebrate the 80^{th birthday of Rev. Fr. Umberto Barato, OFM last January 10, 2010. A musical program highlighted the event which was participated by different communities such as the Africans, Cameroonian Choir in particular, Filipino, Sri Lankan, Indian, Cypriots, Burmese, Irish, and Polish. Other groups included were the Faith and Light, Franciscan Sisters, Neocatechumen, and the church pianists namely Mr. Z. I. and Mrs. Maro H. Members of the Legion of Mary, Devine Mercy and the St. Joseph Social Center offered songs of praises and worship respectively while El Shaddai and Holy Cross Charismatic members offered a dance number. Ester Beatty’s son Matthew played a classical tune with his guitar while Letty Ramos presented a gift of donation in terms of cash in behalf of the parishioners. Fr. Umberto who serves the parish for nearly two decades thanked all parishioners for the eventful celebration.  He reminded everyone to observe unity and love to be called as good christians. “We cannot love one another if we are not one, we must be united,” he stressed. Later, he became emotional when he blew the candles and cut his birthday cake while everyone was singing the hymn of happy birthday at St. Francis Hall.}

By Joy B. Miranda

When the news of Pope Benedict XVI’s coming to Cyprus was confirmed, an initial meeting was held last January to form working group committees. Yesterday, the first formal meeting for each committee was held at the Maronite Archbishop place. There are numbers of Filipinos involved in the Promotion committee, while I am assigned in the Media and Communication committee. I have included Scarlet Tugbo to be my assistant especially during reportage.

Most of the key people handling the preparation for the Papal’s visit to Cyprus

Tinig Pinoy- Filipino Voice has stepped into another milestone as it reaches 4th year of circulation this November. Thank you to all the readers and contributors and most of all to Politis. Photo shows Chief Ed Joy Miranda with Politis Edition Counsellor Dionisis Dionisiou, TP staff Scarlet Tugbo and Prof. Romeo Narvaez (MSU-Gen San City). Cheers!

By Arnel Ambon
The St Catherine Summer Sports League 2009 in Limassol was concluded last 16^th August 2009 with the awarding ceremony of all deserving players and teams. Ceylon team, which is known as the Sri Lankan, retained the 2009-Volleyball Championship after a postponed final, which started on 02 August and finished on 09 August 2009. The sports league started with six volleyball teams namely Astrapi, Bibak, Ceylon Five Continents, Pinoy Mart and Western Union and the game format comprised of single round robin for the elimination round. Due to the minimal number of participating teams, the Olympic format with cross knockout in the semi-final and final was not employed. Teams Pinoy Mart and Bibak were eliminated after the round-robin games being the bottom two teams after the elimination round, the top four teams in order of rank were Western Union (winning all their round-robin games), Ceylon, Astrapi, and Five Continents. Team Western Union competed against the Ceylon for the 1^st and 2nd place while Astrapi and Five Continents played for the 3^rd and 4^th place respectively. The round robin games were dominated by Western Union team with a record of  5-0 (win-loss) followed by the Sri Lankan with 4-1. It was a close battle between the two teams and both went up to play in the finals. In the Championship games, the Sri Lankan gave all what they have got and unleashed their killer set and attacks coupled with floating serves. Western union defended heavily by blocking and digging the attacks but the Sri Lankan in the end dominated the game, winning the championship with 3-0 sets. Astrapi dominated Five Continents during their game for the 3^rd and 4^th place.    Here are the results and minor awards given to teams and individual players in Volleyball: Winner – Sri Lankan, Runner-up – Western Union, 3^rd Place – Astrapi and 4^th Place – Five Continents. MVP – Lakshika Muthumali (Sri Lankan), Best Player – Loida Asug (Western Union), Best Passer – Mary Ann Albores (Astrapi), Best Digger – Loida Asug (Western Union), Best Server – Mary Grace Reodica (Astrapi), Best Hitter – Lakshika Muthumali (Sri Lankan), Best Setter – Joy Montejo, Best in Sportsmanship – Team Bibak, Best Manager – Melanie Racaza (Astrapi).
Meanwhile, in the Basketball event, there were three competing teams. The game format initially was set to single round robin but due to the players’ demand, it was extended to double round robin. All the teams tied up after the double round robin and the tie breaker rule points quotient system have to be applied to get the team standing. Team Zen Room waited for the finals while team Kabayan and Ilocos King competed for 3^rd place. Ilocos King took the third place overall and team Kabayan competed with Zen Room with the best of three games for the championship slot. Team Zen Room eventually won the final games.

 Here are the results of the final standing and corresponding minor award in Basketball: Winner – Zen Room, Runner-up – Kabayan and 3^rd Place – Ilocos King. MVP was awarded to Rodel Ereneo of Zen Room team. Overall, the games have been conducted successfully without interruptions. There were some minor disagreements and clarifications concerning decisions of the referees but the players accepted the decision in a sportsmanlike manner. No yellow or red card was handed to any players in the volleyball team and no disqualification of players or teams have been applied. Special thanks to Parish Priest of St Catherine Church, to all the sponsors, volunteers and referees who have endeavoured to share their time. Most importantly, this sports league would have not been possible without the driving force and total dedication of the committee chaired by Ms Emelyn Sorilla. A big salute to them all.