Church of Crete: Human health is paramount

“‘Human health is paramount; we call on believers to comply with the recommendations and instructions given by the official health authorities,’ as stated in the official announcement of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.”

This was stated to patris.gr by Archbishop Irenaeus of Crete and Metropolitan Makarios of Gortyna and Arcadia, who attended the meeting of the Holy Synod in the Phanar, and, as they noted, it fully endorses the decision of the World Health Organization regarding the coronavirus.

The Archbishop of Crete and the Metropolitan, who returned to Heraklion from Constantinople on Wednesday, underlined that many hierarchs of the Church of Crete are calling for an extraordinary meeting on the measures taken for the protection from the coronavirus, and the related decisions (as well as an announcement) will be taken in the coming days.

“We understand,” they said, “that this is a very serious public health issue.”

They added that if a statement was issued by the Church of Crete, it would be on the same wavelength with that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, whose Holy Synod convened chaired by Patriarch Bartholomew.

Source: Orthodoxtimes.com