Metropolitan Symeon of Fthiotida called for discipline, responsibility and self-transcendence.
Speaking on state television, the Metropolitan spoke of “a different kind of fasting” that God is calling us all to follow at this hour.
“It is not easy to deprive ourselves of what life is to us. But, for we love people and for the protection of Public Health we must go into self-limitation. It is another type of fasting that God is asking us to follow at this time, another type of exercise, to stay at home, to follow the instructions closely, not to rest and to increase our prayers for everyone, for our doctors, for our nurses, for those who make decisions and manage the situation, which is not an easy task.”
Metropolitan Symeon also spoke of activating individual responsibility. “The Holy Synod said something that the Prime Minister repeated in his speech. We have to act not as healthy people, but as carriers of the disease. This is an expression of love.”
He particularly focused on the indiscipline of the people who continue to go to church. “When there is a serious situation and they do not understand in a nice way, there is a need to issue an order that fills our heart with pain and above all the hearts of the priests.”
Concerning the original decisions of the Holy Synod, Metropolitan of Fthiotida said: “The Holy Synod made the historic decision to suspend the service of the Salutations to the Theotokos. The Church cannot suppress the right to religious freedom. Only the State can do this. Certainly the Government made this decision with great awareness, sensitivity and pain, wanting to prevent the outbreak. Because to manage is to think and act ahead.”