Anti-vax abbot, monks to stand trial

The abbot and five monks of a monastery on Mount Pelio, in central Greece, will face trial over charges of spreading fake news about the Covid-19 vaccines and the pandemic. 

Based on the indictment, the abbot and the monks distributed in January 2022 a pocket diary titled “Think before you get vaccinated,” with which they urged the faithful to avoid getting the jab against the coronavirus, citing dubious statements from doctors and a lawyer.

“The great bitterness is that the leadership of the Church, archbishops – metropolitans – reached the point of recommending the vaccine from the pulpit, as a tool to brainwash the faithful,” a quote from the calendar read. 

Judicial authorities in Volos opened a preliminary investigation which resulted in the indictments, however the prosecutor stopped short of charging the publisher of the calendar, which a local report identified as the Monastery of Megisti Lavra in Mount Athos (the law on “spreading fake news” states that the publisher and owner of the medium that spread the news is also criminally responsible).

The date of the trial is expected to be determined soon, state-run broadcaster ERT said.