You may not lock up.
The Greek Orthodox Church on Monday warned priests not to follow the Greek government’s edict to close houses of worship as part of the country’s new, stricter coronavirus restrictions.
The Conservative church has issued a statement instructing religious leaders to gather worshipers indoors for services for Wednesday’s Epiphany.
The Holy Synod said it was “not accepting” a one-week restriction in an effort to delay the spread of COVID-19 ahead of the planned reopening of schools.
The closure of January 3-10 comes after Greece closed schools and suspended economic activity in November largely due to rising infections that nearly filled hospitals.
These measures were partially relaxed before Christmas, which enabled churches to resume activities.
But officials are now resuming strict regulations for a week before the planned reopening of January 11th.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Orthodox officials have had mixed reactions to health and safety measures, ranging from mild support to serious opposition.
Greece fared better in managing the virus than many other European countries, with around 136,000 confirmed cases in total and fewer than 5,000 deaths, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
With Post threads