A fight between nuns has ended with two injuries and two arrests.

The violence broke out between two rival factions residing in a convent in Avdellero, Cyprus.

Nuns and priests from both sides confronted each other after unrest one evening.

Reports from the Cyprus Mail claim that the church was covered with blood as nuns and priests from both sides attacked each other using sharp objects.

The violent episode is linked to a row from Easter last year, when the presiding Bishop Epiphanios died. This gave rise to a dispute over which group should take over the running and the finances of the convent.

Bishop Sevastianos and his supporters say the management of the convent’s finances rightfully belongs to them and claim to have legal documents to prove it.

But the group of 14 nuns who have occupied the convent for the last 50 years under Mother Superior Markella, have refused to accept the legitimacy of the claim.

According to the Cyprus Weekly, earlier a group of invading nuns broke the entrance and windows of the convent trying to get in with Bishop Sevrianos.

Bishop Sevastianos and his nuns reportedly barricaded themselves inside the chapel, as a precaution, with friends and relatives of the two groups taking turns at patrolling the premises.

The convent was then segregated, with Bishop Sevastianos’ followers occupying certain buildings and the resident nuns staying in others.

Local Police have confirmed that they would be investigating the event.

The authorities have been discreetly monitoring the situation since an earlier dispute erupted in December 2006.