Holy Synod says cannot monitor compliance with Covid restrictions
The Holy Synod, the Greek Church’s governing body, said on Monday that flock compliance with government measures to stop the spread of Covid-19 cannot be ensured.
While expressing its full support for government efforts to curb the pandemic, the Holy Synod said that church staff and volunteers do not have the ability nor the authority to monitor adherence to the safety measures.
The latest measures stipulate that unvaccinated churchgoers must produce a negative laboratory test to enter places of worship.
“[Workers or volunteer staff] have neither capabilities, guard authority, nor public [e.g. police] powers,” it said, while reiterating its support for “the great effort on the part of our doctors and nurses to deal with the pandemic” and urging “everyone to get vaccinated.”
“The firm position of our Church is that the choice of vaccination is not a matter of good faith or confession, but an object of medical science and an act of individual and social responsibility,” it stressed.
“Any opposing view, even of the clergy, does not represent the Church of Greece, which is officially governed and expressed only by the Holy Synod,” it added.
