The hierarch of the Church of Greece, Metropolitan George of Thebes and Levadia (Mandzuranis), commented on the decision of the Greek government to restrict entry to churches as part of the “fight against coronavirus.” He said that checking believers for covid documents would inevitably lead to clashes. This is reported by orthodoxia.info.
“Our churches should remain places of reconciliation with God and with each other, places of brotherhood and unity. They should not become places of confrontation, counter conflicts and tensions … Church commissioners and all assistants are volunteers and cannot, especially in villages, resist their fellow villagers and fellow citizens. Therefore, I would like to ask the Prime Minister and all responsible persons to revise this chapter, ”said the Metropolitan.
He emphasized that “Christ Himself freely and naturally calls us to follow Him and does not oblige anyone to do anything more.”
Earlier, Metropolitan Seraphim of Kifir and Antikythera noted that such prohibitions “did not exist even under totalitarianism.”