The temples will remain open for the celebration of the Epiphany, with Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens stating in his letter to the Metropolises that the constant, open and sincere cooperation and communication between Church and State is necessary as never before.
“The communication between the Prime Minister and the Archbishop can only bear good fruits for the Nation”, the Archbishop of Athens emphasized characteristically.
In particular, in the letter issued by Archbishop Ieronymos, the Metropolitans of the Church of Greece are requested to strictly observe the sanitary measures regarding the operation of the Holy Temples with the presence of a certain number of believers during the feast of the Epiphany.
According to the measures, the sacred services are allowed with the participation of up to 25 believers in the parish churches and up to 50 in the Metropolian churches.
The letter points out that the Standing Holy Synod decided that the Blessing of the Waters will be performed inside the Holy Temples and there will be no processions or even services of the Blessing of the Waters outside the temples.
In fact, Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece, decided not to use the authorization, which he had received from the Holy Synod. As a result the Archbishop of Athens will not preside over the Service of the Blessing of the Waters, in order to avoid the assemblage of believers.
Also, the Archbishop gave explicit orders to the priests of the archdiocese’s temples to finish the Divine Liturgy of the Epiphany by 8:30 in the morning and to perform only one Liturgy, as orthodoxtimes.gr had previously reported in an article.
