The measures imposed by governments to confront the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequences on the worship life of the Orthodox Church in the three Benelux countries were at the heart of the discussion during the 9th meeting of the Orthodox Bishops’ Conference of Benelux (CEOB), which met for the 19th time at the headquarters of the Metropolis of Belgium in Brussels.
The meeting was chaired by Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium (Ecumenical Patriarchate) and with the participation of Bishops Ioakeim of Apollonia (Assistant Bishop to the Holy Metropolis of Belgium), Mark of Neamts (Patriarchate of Romania), and Dositheus (Patriarchate of Georgia).
The hierarchs were informed about the new provision concerning the management of religious communities in the Brussels area. They were briefed on the meeting with the Flemish government regarding requests for the recognition of new parishes.
The bishops considered the proposal for holding an official Doxology on a Sunday close to the date of the Belgian National Day – as is already the case with the Luxembourgish National Day – with a meeting of all the Orthodox communities of Brussels.
It was decided that the pilgrimage to Georgia would take place in May 2021.
The bishops talked about the presence of the Orthodox Church in the Netherlands as well as the transfer of the Institute of Orthodox Theology “Saint Irenaeus” from the University of Amsterdam to the University of Nijmegen.
