The Spokesman of the Standing Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, Metropolitan Ierotheos of Nafpaktos, spoke on ANT1 TV about the content of the Archbishop’s letter.
Metropolitan Ierotheos clarified that the letter was sent to the prime minister on April 22 and to six people, ministers, officials and Sotiris Tsiodras on the same.
“He is waiting for the answer from the prime minister,” said Metropolitan of Nafpaktos, conveying the words of Archbishop Ieronymos.
“The Standing Holy Synod will take place next Thursday,” he said and added that “the letter was not leaked by the Archdiocese but by the recipients.”
Finally, the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos referred to the content of the Archbishop’s letter to the prime minister, which he described as ‘realistic,’ not ‘harsh,’ as it was heard.
Regarding the letter, the Metropolitan said that the Archbishop of Athens congratulated the prime minister, wished him Happy Easter, then referred to the efforts made by the Church, the internal and external difficulties notwithstanding, and concluded that he wanted the temples to be open and put forward some suggestions.
“We made great sacrifices. The vast majority of priests complied with the measures. So when there are different scenarios for opening the hair salons and shops, how is it possible that the Church is excluded?
Regarding the terms proposed by Archbishop Ieronymos to the prime minister for the opening of the churches, he said the following, stating that additional decisions will be made at the meeting of the Holy Synod.
The five conditions set by Archbishop Ieronymos to the prime minister:
- The number of faithful allowed to enter the church should be proportional
- In case of mass gathering, the faithful should remain at the courtyard where they will attend the religious service through loudspeakers while keeping their distance
- The church staff should ensure that the mass gathering will be avoided
- There should be antiseptic available
- The churches should be ventilated