The coronavirus was a very serious challenge for the Church, because there was propaganda: do not go to church, because the church is a source of infection. This was stated by Metropolitan Kliment of Nezhinsky and Priluksky in an interview with Pravoslavie.Ru.

Answering the question of the publication “After the creation of the OCU, was there an outflow of parishioners from the churches of the Nizhyn diocese of the UOC?”, Metropolitan Kliment said:

“No, we didn’t have that. The only thing that, of course, had an impact was the coronavirus. This was a serious challenge for the Church. And I think it is much more serious than the creation of the OCU. Because there is such a mental challenge. There was such propaganda: do not go to church, because the church is a source of infection. And when, from what moment will it be possible to go to church?

For a modern person, for whom God is a TV, such a poison has already been planted. And today we need a new mission, post-coronavirus. Unfortunately, some priests are afraid to do their ministry.

Although in history there have been cases (the same holy martyr Vladimir) when the clergy went to typhoid patients, to cholera barracks. Now this is not required of the priest. But thank God that in Ukraine, unlike other countries, it was not forbidden to hold services. In Austria, for example, even baptism was forbidden. But such a ban, in its essence, is anti-Christian, ”said the hierarch.