Ecclesiology

The decision was made during a Holy Synod extraordinary meeting

The only disagreements within the Church of Greece regarding the government's limits on services during the festive period due to the coronavirus pandemic is over the way it should respond, as the clergy are all in agreement that the decision must change.

The Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarchate has called for a dialogue among Orthodox churches regarding Holy Communion and how it should be administered amid the health concerns stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.

Archbishop Elpidophoros of America held a Virtual Town Hall with thousands of faithful across America, on Saturday.

Τhe Holy Synod, the ruling body of the Greek Orthodox Church, has said that all Easter services will be held without any public gatherings as part of the country's efforts to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.

In a circular, the Holy Synod cautioned clerics against deviating from the guidelines of the Church or they would jeopardize public health.

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.

Bulgaria's Minister of Culture Boil Banov announced on Monday afternoon that an exhibition of Bulgarian religious artefacts that were to be displayed at the Louvre Museum in Paris has been cancelled.

The Ukrainian Church is independent of the religious administration of Moscow.
In a statement after the meeting in the Moscow Patriarchate, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church stated that it could not, from now on, mention the name of Patriarch Theodore II in his prayers and participate in common prayers.

In a sign of continued deep rifts in the Orthodox Church, a Serbian bishop had condemned the Patriarch of Constantinople, the nominal head of the Church, for mentioning the head of the disputed Orthodox Church in Ukraine in a service.

The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece has recognized the autonomy of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, in line with a request by the Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios, Kathimerini learned on Saturday.