The Christian Response to the Coronavirus (2021)

Address of His Eminence Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Attica and Boeotia at the Clergy Synaxis in the Holy Church of Saint Nicholas in Acharnes

September 1/14, 2021

 

Beloved fathers and brothers in Christ,

A good, blessed, and fruitful year!

I welcome you to the customary gathering of the priestly family of our Metropolis, which gives us the opportunity to discuss closely various topics of current interest and of ecclesiastical ministry, with the aim of forming and maintaining a unified spiritual course. This common course is precisely what the flock we have been called to serve needs, so that the sense of security the faithful feel within the Mother Church may not be disturbed.

The subject of our gathering today, as you have already been informed, concerns the Christian confrontation of the burning issue of the coronavirus pandemic, now lasting a year and a half. It could not, after all, be otherwise, given that in many cases the discussions about it exceed in both time—and quality—our discussions about the matters of our personal repentance and salvation. Is this, perhaps, to the benefit of our soul? This each one can judge for himself.

Let us, however, take things from the beginning.

In February of 2020 we experienced an abrupt change in our daily life due to the appearance in our country of a new illness, that of the coronavirus, otherwise COVID-19. Especially at the beginning, the ignorance of the extent of the evil, the dramatization of the illness by the mass media, and the extremely strict and, at the same time, strange measures of the State caused a heavy atmosphere of uncertainty and fear in the majority of Greek society, which, unfortunately, even a year and a half later—up to this very day—still exists.

In the present address I will not focus on whether this illness is due to some bat or to the plans of certain dark figures, because such a thing would not add significant information to the treasury of our knowledge. In any case, we did not need the coronavirus to realize that there are some who are enemies of and control humanity.

I will also not focus on the unjust behavior of the State against the Church. Any interested party can turn to the internet and learn our opinion. Indeed, one can easily ascertain that we did not hesitate to openly censure this behavior, this deliberate behavior, which brought about the perhaps desired results for the State: the reduction of the citizens’ trust toward the authority of the land, the consequent adoption of conspiratorial theories, and, ultimately, the great division, which always favors governance.

Moreover, I will not focus my address on whether the vaccines are the only solution for the protection of public health, whether they contain microchips, whether they alter DNA, or whether they are a source of easy enrichment for large corporations.

You see, my beloved fathers, just as all of you, so also I am neither a doctor, nor an epidemiologist, nor a political analyst, according to the trend of the times. The Master Christ first placed upon me the epitrachelion and then the martyr’s omophorion, and giving me two denarii—the Old and the New Testament, and not scientific and political-analytical websites—He said to me: Chrysostomos, take the man worn out by sins, the dying traveler of life, care for him and send him back healthy to Me. Since, therefore, I have been called—just as you have, after all—a physician of passions and not of the coronavirus (for which and for other illnesses I am content with the Holy Mystery of Holy Unction), I will focus on the great success of the coronavirus.

Indeed, the coronavirus achieved a significant success: it managed to reveal in the most direct way the gaps of our soul. This revelation, for every spiritual father, is nothing other than a contribution to the pastoral and therapeutic work. It is the perfect diagnosis of the illness, which helps us to determine the appropriate course of treatment.

In the face of the coronavirus, masked and unmasked Christians—the reference is only to Christians—removed the masks of their soul and displayed a variety of unpleasant behaviors, which we could divide into two large “camps”: the lukewarm and those resistant beyond measure.

In the first case, we saw Christians openly taking a stand in favor of closing the churches, attacking and expelling from the Church our brothers who do not comply with the observance of the protective measures, and supporting the view that the unvaccinated should not be allowed to enter the church. We also saw that extreme phenomenon of our own people requesting to approach first the Chalice of Life so as not to catch the virus.

In the second case, we saw people believing—even after so many deaths—that this illness does not even exist, and moreover stubbornly declaring their opinion to people who had either mourned their loved ones or whose relatives had suffered for many days in the intensive care unit. We saw people equating the observance of protective measures, especially the use of the mask, with betrayal of the faith. We also saw Christians spending much time exploring conspiratorial websites, attacking our vaccinated brothers, and—worst of all—criticizing or speaking with contempt about the stance of the Hierarchs and, in general, of the Holy Synod.

From what it seems, my brothers, we proved to be very pietistic, very worshipers of form.

As I was writing all this, with much sorrow I wondered: where are we going? What do all these things have to do with the Orthodox Christian spirit? Is this the example the Crucified Christ left us?

By no means, my brothers.

As I mentioned earlier, Christ gave to me and to every clergyman the two denarii of the Old and the New Testament, so that with them we might care for the flock we serve. These two sacred books provide us with important lessons about the conduct which, as Christians, we ought to display both in difficult circumstances, such as a pandemic, and in every other situation of life. For this reason, we must first make them a personal experience and then regulate according to them the conduct of the flock.

I chose to present in this address only a few passages from the Holy Scripture which, although known to all of us, I consider very important to remember and to pay attention to.

First, we have the story of the Ninevites. These people, because of their sin, were in danger of being destroyed. However, when Jonah warned them of the calamity they were about to suffer, they immediately repented, and all together fasted and wept for their sins. They did not waste themselves in pointless quarrels, but took care for the common good, and the Lord blessed them and turned away His wrath.

Concerning the spirit of brotherly love and united confrontation of every evil, wise Solomon teaches in his Proverbs: a brother helped by a brother is as a fortified city. In a time when our Church is being attacked from all sides, should it not be well fortified? Solomon generously provides us with the way by which we will make the wall of the Church impenetrable to every external enemy. This way is none other than mutual help and mutual understanding. Is it permissible, my fathers, for mutual help to be absent in the Orthodox Church, where we are all “the body of Christ, and members in particular,” according to the Apostle Paul? What benefit would there be if the two hands of the same body were at odds with each other? Let us think and let us make the analogy.

As for impulsive behavior that is due to excessive zeal, Christ is clear. When Peter, prompted by zeal, drew his sword and cut off the ear of Malchus, Christ rebuked him, telling him to put the sword back. Moreover, afterwards, showing His forbearance, He healed the servant of the high priest. In this way, He gave Peter the same lesson He had given a few centuries earlier to the Prophet Elijah, as we read in the Third Book of Kings: God is found neither in the strong wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire. God is found and rests in the gentle breeze—in the person who handles difficult situations while maintaining balance, walking the middle and royal road; in the person who departs leaving behind the imprint of peace.

This person, in comparison with the excessively zealous one, is able to resist evil with greater success, because he sees clearly and with maturity. Many of us say that globalization is advancing at a rapid pace and is coming to level the distinct identity of each nation and to create the world religion, and that the coronavirus contributes in part to this development. All of this is true. However, even though we say it, we have difficulty understanding that for this entire organized dark plan of decades to succeed, a strict common line was observed, based on discipline. Proof of this is the very words of the Lord Himself, Who says: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.” The fact, then, that globalization exists and is advancing rapidly indicates the unity of the dark forces. Consider now how much we ourselves fall short in organization. We oppose the enemies of the faith, those who planted the coronavirus among us, the State that closed our Churches, and instead of presenting a united resistance, we have reached the point of criticizing even the very balanced and responsible decisions of the Holy and Sacred Synod. Imagine the Holy Apostles rising up and condemning their Teacher. The Church would not exist. Imagine again the first Christians not giving heed to their Apostles and their Priests. The Church would have become a prey to heresies. The fact that the Church continues to this day its two-thousand-year redemptive course is due primarily to the Grace and Will of God, and secondarily to the synodical system which expresses the Divine Will.

Beloved brothers,

It is not possible for us to consider ourselves expressions of love and yet to treat Christians, vaccinated or not, with malice, behaving as faithful followers of such-and-such a systemic, paid journalist, or of such-and-such a doctor who resists the system because perhaps the system rejected him. The opinion of every person may not always be welcome, yet it is certainly worthy of respect. Much more so is the opinion of the Holy Synod worthy of respect, as the source from which the faithful draw the wealth of the gifts of the All-Holy Spirit. Its opinion is the two-thousand-year-old commandment of Christ: “Love one another.”

We have a sacred duty to strengthen one another, to share in the suffering of our fellow man, to protect him. And if someone has taken the vaccine, let us pray that he is well. And if someone has not taken the vaccine, again let us pray that he is well. As for the one who has a different opinion, let him keep it to himself, for no one has the right to interfere with the bodily integrity of any person.

In conclusion, the Christian confrontation of the coronavirus, of what is related to it, and of every difficult circumstance is summed up in Paul’s concise and comprehensive phrase: “Overcome evil with good.” In this case, the good is expressed through unity, like-mindedness, and love. We, as clergy, must make these our lived experience, study them deeply, and then convey them to the flock, because these are what the flock needs. We do not have the “luxury” of being divided.

At this point I feel the need to refer to our forefathers, the heroes of ’21 [in the Greek War for Independence]. Their blood demands of us, on the one hand, to imitate their sacrificial spirit in order to keep alive whatever they lovingly handed down to us, and, on the other hand, not to repeat the great mistake that was for them a source of pain. That mistake was discord—a civil war within the war against the Ottomans, a cancer that nearly nullified entirely every success of the united revolution.

I will close the present address by letting someone more experienced speak. It is the Elder of the Morea, the general who sacrificed his life so that we might live a better life:

“In the first year of the Revolution we had great concord and we all ran in agreement. If this concord had lasted another two years, we would have taken Thessaly and Macedonia, and perhaps we might have even reached Constantinople. But it did not last! And this happened because we did not have one leader and one head. When many give orders, the house is never built nor finished.”

My fathers, I pray that the present address may serve for all of us as an occasion for reflection and a desire to work united like one fist. In this way, the righteous struggle of each one will store up great wealth for paradise. In this way, we have nothing to fear from any coronavirus that attempts to disturb our life.

Strength in unity! Blessed be the new year!

 

Greek source: https://www.imab.gr/index.php/latest-news/2224-ntimetopisi-to-koronoio-p-t-n-xristiano