LAST UPDATE: 16:13
The Standing Holy Synod of the Church of Greece gave its answer to all the false allegations that have been raised against it after the feast of the Epiphany.
The Standing Holy Synod referred also to the issue of the vaccination against Covid-19 and clarified that the choice of vaccination is not a theological or ecclesiastical issue. It is mainly a medical-scientific issue as well as a free personal choice of each person in communication with his doctor and does not constitute a fall from the right Faith and life.
During the feast of the Epiphany the order and the observance of the sanitary measures was maintained inside the Holy Temples, while the cases of deviations in which the measures were not observed outside the Holy Temples, were minimal and unfortunately have been over-exaggerated by the media.
The Standing Holy Synod strongly protested against publications, not of those who criticize, even harshly, the Church, “but of those who with systematic one-sidedness and expediency targeted the Church, its Shepherds and its People and, above all, tried to incriminate every manifestation of their religious sentiment. Faith is not an individual fact, according to Protestant conceptions, but a fact of relationship experienced predominantly in the public Divine Worship, which is recognized as the way to be a member of the Orthodox Church.”
Finally, referring to the issue of vaccination, the Standing Holy Synod of the Church of Greece after research noted that, the vaccines against Covid-19, that are currently used in our country, do not require the use of embryonic cell cultures for their production.
“The Holy Synod reiterates that the choice of vaccination is not a theological or ecclesiastical issue. It is mainly a medical-scientific issue as well as a free personal choice of each person in communication with his doctor and does not constitute a fall from the right Faith and life.
Besides, one of the Hierarchs of the Church of Greece, Metropolitan Ierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agios Vlasios, has already been vaccinated, representing the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, who could not be vaccinated due to medical reasons.”
The representative of the Holy Standing Synod, Metropolitan Athenagoras of Ilion, replied to a question he was asked stressing that the Church of Greece would refer the matter of fake news to the National Council for Radio and Television (NCRTV).
As for the Metropolitan of Kalavrita and the celebration of the Epiphany, he underlined that they decided to send him a letter without disclosing its content.
Finally, regarding the concerns that civil marriages are allowed, whereas religious weddings are not, he underlined that the Church had in fact appealed to the Council of State. He said that a request was submitted so that weddings and baptisms be allowed with a minimum number of people.
