Eastern Orthodox church leaders in Europe have supported government measures to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, although some have criticised restrictions on public worship during the Orthodox Easter.
The Russian Moscow Patriarchate said that Holy Week and Easter services would be conducted without parishioners in the capital, after an Orthodox priest died and about 40 people were taken ill with the virus.
The Greek Church’s governing Holy Synod said that Easter would be marked “on a small scale behind closed doors”, and that public celebrations would be transferred, instead, to Tuesday 26 May before the eve of Ascension.
Every European state has reported Covid-19 infections, and the number of cases is rising in the continent’s 11 predominantly Orthodox countries.
In Bulgaria, Patriarch Neophyte reversed his instruction, given in mid-March, that churches should stay open and resists “the pretext of coronavirus infection”, and called instead for state-of-emergency restrictions to be observed.
