“Burying the dead human body in the ground presupposes and implies faith in the Resurrection of the Dead at the Second Coming, while burning and cremation signifies a lack of faith and hope, as it means the complete annihilation of man,” a resolution by the clergy of the Metropolis of Thebes and Livadia says, declaring that they refuse to perform a funeral service in the event of cremation.
“We affirm our complete opposition to the novel, antitraditionalist and antichristian practice of cremation and ensure that we cannot accept to perform a funeral service for the repose of the soul of people who decided and demanded, either themselves or their families, to have their dead bodies burned and not buried.”
This decision of the clergy came at a time when the first crematorium in Ritsona, Euboea, started operating in early October.