Speaking on television, the Spokesman of the Standing Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, Metropolitan Ierotheos of Nafpaktos, sent a tough message to everyone by citing a parable.
“When they tried to arrest Jesus Christ, Saint Peter the Apostle, in an attempt to prevent the arrest, cut off the ear of a servant named Malchus. ‘Put your sword back in its place,’ Jesus said to him, ‘for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.’ So we do not need rough men but confessors. It’s one thing to confess one’s faith, it’s another to pretend to be the rough man,” he said.
He explained that the Standing Holy Synod had already decided that the Epitaphios procession would take place inside the church behind closed doors, something that had always been the case in the ancient church. Believers are urged not to come to the church and stay at home while taking advantage of modern means in order to participate in the services. The church has done its duty with great pain.”
“In order to be able to receive the Holy Communion, there are conditions for participating in the Eucharist,” the Metropolitan pointed out. The Holy Communion is allowed outside the church only to the seriously ill or the dying,” added the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos.
“The church urges the faithful to stay at home, not in order to distance them, but in order to deal with the very serious issue of the virus. The Church knows that is has disciples, not fans. We must not become fans. The Holy Synod has sent its decisions to the Metropolitans, and now they are responsible for implementing Synod’s decisions. It is clear what the Synod decided,” clarified Metropolitan Ierotheos.
“Dostoevsky has shown that disbelief and atheism are not the opposite, the complete atheist stands on the penultimate step to the most perfect faith. We must not persecute the church but the virus,” he said.
