Clergy

Patriarch Neophyte has appointed priests from Sofia who will take over the usual services in the Church of St. Nicholas the Miracle-Maker, known as the Russian Church. This was announced by the Holy Synod.

Citing the preservation of health and life as its priority, the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, which convened on Tuesday, urged dioceses, parishes, monasteries and institutions, as well as the clergy and laity, to strictly observe the legislative measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, inside and outside churches during the holiday season.

A joint decision by the ministries of Health and Religion due to be made public on Tuesday paves the way for churches in Greece to reopen their doors to their congregations on May 17, the Athens-Macedonian News Agency has reported.

Archbishop Elpidophoros of America held a Virtual Town Hall with the metropolitans of the Eparchial Synod, the Bishops and over 325 members of the national clergy in order to discuss the magnitude of the novel coronavirus pandemic crisis, his office announced on Monday.

The Church of Greece sought to defuse simmering tensions with the state before they bubbled up to the surface on Tuesday, saying that it would immediately comply with all the measures announced by the government to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Greece's newly-elected conservative government on Tuesday scrapped plans to remove priests from the state payroll, reversing a decision by its leftist predecessor that aimed to carve a clearer distinction between church and state.

Pope Francis on Sunday said after three days spent in Romania that he leaves "enriched" because he will take with him places, moments and especially faces of those he met. "I arrived to this beautiful and welcoming country as pilgrim and brother, to life various meetings. Now I'm going back home enriched, taking with me places and moments, and especially faces.

Pope Francis told the rd 100,000 faithful gathered on Sunday in Blaj on the Liberty Field that he entrusts them to Virgin Mary to guide them "towards a future of a genuine progress and peace", and to building "a more and more righteous and fraternal homeland".

The government has released its revised plan on the implementation on the church-state agreement agreed to by PM Alexis Tsipras and Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece, following a meeting between Education, Research, and Religious Affairs Minister Kostas Gavroglu and the church's committee on dialogue with the state.

Archbishop Ieronymos on Friday assured clerics of the Greek Orthodox Church that an agreement for the separation of church and state that is currently under discussion will safeguard their rights.