Bishop in the Eastern Orthodox Church

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America announced on Tuesday that a planned visit to the United States by the Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios has been cancelled amid concerns about the novel coronavirus.

During his enthronement in the Diocese of Valjevo, several temples were built and rebuilt, with the highest response for religious education among all the dioceses of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC).

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis tonight ordered the closure of all churches and places of worship of all denominations.

Mitsotakis announced the decision via his Twitter account straight on the heels of a decision of the Orthodox Church of Greece to severely restrict services but to keep conducting an abbreviated Sunday Divine Liturgy between 8am and 9pm.

Elpidophoros, the Archbishop-elect of America, send a message of unity to the faithful of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America ahead of his enthronement on June 22.

The new Archbishop of America, Elpidophoros, was elected unanimously by the members of the Ecumenical Patriarchate's Holy Synod, according to a press release from the Phanar on Saturday.

The rift between Greek clerics and the government over a tentative plan to loosen close ties between the church and state seemed no closer to being resolved on Thursday as Education and Religious Affairs Minister Costas Gavroglou hit out at the Ecumenical Patriarchate for refusing to temper its stance on proposed changes to priests' pay status.