An extraordinary meeting of the Standing Holy Synod of the Church of Greece was scheduled for next Wednesday at 5.00 p.m., local time.
A report in the news portal skai.gr claims that the meeting will be held via teleconference in order to comply with the precautionary measures taken to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
The main issue of the meeting, which will be led by Archbishop Ieronymos and in which 12 Synodal Hierarchs will participate, will reportedly be the proposals that the Church of Greece will make to the Greek State concerning the church services during Easter.
It is recalled that through a Joint Ministerial Order all church services were suspended until the 30th of March.
According to the ministerial order, the attendance of believers is allowed, for a short period of time, only for individual prayer in the place of worship, observing the proportion of one person per 10 square meters, and at least at a distance of two (2) meters from each other.
The calculation of the preceding subparagraph covers only the surface of the main/usable area that serves the worship needs and does not include surfaces of any other contiguous main areas of the property that serve non-worship activities.
The operation of the places of worship must ensure that the above proportion of pilgrims per square meter and the distance between the pilgrims, as well as all hygiene measures adopted by the competent authorities, are respected at all times.
At the entrances of the places of worship, there should be an apparatus with disinfectant/antiseptic or equivalent product for free use by the faithful.
Holy Monasteries, Convents and other spaces of monastic life within the Greek territory during the above period will not accept the public and faithful in organized or individual pilgrimage visits.
The prohibitions on visits and all the necessary preventive measures concerning the Holy Monasteries of the Athonite State are taken by decision of the Civil Governor of Mount Athos, upon prior notice to the Holy Community.
