LAST UPDATE: 19:20
Answering journalists’ question regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and the attitude of the Church, Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and all Greece made the following statement:
“Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, our Church took a stand, as it should, with all its forces, on the side of the responsible Greek government and the Greek people for the effective confrontation of this national ordeal.
We have achieved a lot for being united, and always in the context of the excellent cooperation between the two leading institutions of our nation as it has always been. Greece became a commendable example for us all over the world because, with a sense of patriotic duty, we listened to the experts and protected the supreme good of human life and health with the least amount of damage. After all, without people, there is neither a State nor a Church.
The mission of the Church is none other than to serve the people, both sacrificially and splendidly, with boundless love for his person and existence. Today, when the pandemic seems to threaten our country again, our Church must rise again to the challenge. And it will.
After all, like our faithful people, who, disciplined and prudent, followed and follow the instructions and recommendations of the competent health authorities. For the common good.
So that soon the pandemic, with the help of God and with the key contribution of science, will be a nightmare that passed irretrievably with the least possible cost for our homeland and our people.”
Greek State thanks Archbishop Ieronymos for urging the faithful to comply with the rules
In an extraordinary televised meeting on Tuesday regarding COVID-19 cases in Greece by Sotiris Tsiodras, representative of the Health Ministry on the novel COVID-19, and Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias, the latter thanked the Archbishop of Athens for urging the faithful to comply with the experts’ recommendations.