“Your presence in this online communication is an act of deep faith and all the questions you have raised give a clear indication that you are all Orthodox Christians who love our church and each other. I am sure that with God’s help we will overcome this ordeal soon and we will all meet in person.”
Archbishop Elpidophoros of America closed his online discussion with thousands of believers from all over America, on Lazarus Saturday, with that message.
Archbishop Elpidophoros underlined that “our world will change due to this pandemic,” but also stressed in protothema.gr that “change is an integral part of this world. The only eternal constant in this world is God, who is our hope, our refuge and our salvation.”
Answering questions from the faithful, which were conveyed by the expatriate journalist Demetria Kalodimos from Nashville, Tennessee, anchor for 35 years of the main news bulletin on a television station that collaborates with NBC, the Archbishop analyzed the different Easter that believers are called to experience this year, watching virtually all the Services, via television and the internet, for the protection of the supreme good, which is nothing but health and life, and, of course, public health.
Answering questions from believers about the Holy Communion, the Archbishop made a distinction between it and the ways in which it is actually offered to the faithful.
As he characteristically said, “we believers receive the Body and Blood of Christ during the Sacrament of Holy Communion and life is being transmitted, not a disease or a virus. But in order to transmit the Holy Communion, we also use tools that are perishable and earthly.”
He added that “what needs to be done at this time is to prevent the gathering of believers, therefore, the Services in the churches of America are being held behind closed doors from the beginning of the pandemic.”
He stressed that “the queues for the Holy Communion, where the faithful stand close to each other, are long in the Churches, creating great danger during this critical period.”
Also, answering other questions from believers, he pointed out that science and faith do not clash with each other, but co-exist at the same time. We always ought, “as believers, not to provoke God with a frivolous, irresponsible attitude and regarding issues that we do not know, to address the scientists who know them.”
