Metropolitan Pavlos of Drama, one of the most prominent and erudite hierarchs of the Church of Greece, spoke to the National Herald with a sober and responsible attitude towards the great ecclesiastical and national issues for the COVID-19, and the Russian “coup” at the Patriarchate of Alexandria.
Asked how he dealt with the priests who opposed the COVID-19 vaccine, he said that “I tried to convince them, and I forbade those who were confessors and spirituals to get into contact with the people so that they would not influence the faithful through confession.”
As for whether they continue to perform the holy services, he said that “they continue to perform the holy services as long as they do not get sick because there is no other way to forbid them to officiate.”
Regarding the intrusion of the Moscow Patriarchate into the Patriarchate of Alexandria, he said that “this is the revolutionary pan-Slavism of pre-revolutionary Russia which is coming back vengefully again since they are doing this in an arrogant and very provocative way relying on state authorities but they seem they did not learn their lesson with the divine ‘slap’ during the revolution of 1917.”
Source: The National Herald