Putting science above God is sign of mentality cultivated over many years in Greece—Metropolitan Nektarios of Corfu

Corfu, Greece, May 22, 2020

Photo: spzh.news Photo: spzh.news     

An un-Orthodox mentality has been cultivated in Greece over the course of many years, His Eminence Metropolitan Nektarios of Corfu believes, as evidenced by the belief expressed by politicians and others that partaking of Holy Communion could be dangerous to one’s health.

God gave man science, but it cannot take precedence over the faith, the hierarch said after Vespers for the feast of Sts. Constantine and Helen on Wednesday, May 20, reports Romfea.

Conversely, when the rulers of the people rely on the Christ’s victory on the Cross, then God blesses them. With the Edict of Milan, St. Constantine ended the persecution of Christians. “Those who kept God’s word were blessed,” he said, while “those who apostatized did not last long. God is slow, but He does not forget. He punishes those who have rebelled against Him,” Met. Nektarios preached.

“God is the God of love, but also of justice. This is His covenant with the people,” he added.

In the Metropolitan’s view, this historical occurrence is analogous to what is happening today.

“The criminalization of the Sacrament of Holy Communion, the notion that ‘Christ is dangerous to human health,’ the questioning of God’s power and the advancement of science, which God has given us, but we cannot have it above the power of God—these are signs of the mentality that has been cultivated for years in our homeland,” the hierarch lamented.

He noted that there is, on the one hand, a perception that the Church is outdated, while on the other hand, people expect the Church to help them with their material needs.

The right to religious worship and expression was restricted, and “people who want life and hope and joy from Divine Communion were insulted and dragged into the courts.”

Met. Nektarios himself faced legal troubles after celebrating the Divine Liturgy and communing those present on the feast of Palm Sunday. Following an “incident” in Athens, a priest was under investigation for communing a few children out the back door of his church.

In early April, more than 100 people were fined for going to church in two separate incidents in Greece.

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5/22/2020

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Comments
John5/25/2020 9:54 am
Nicole - you have stated my thoughts and feelings quite clearly. Obviously our ROCOR hierarchs can't possibly believe the propaganda from the WHO. So why are they being so silent? Because of threats? Because of cowardice? I don't know. They used to speak fearlessly against the Soviet KGB powers, that were actively making attempts to assassinate them. But now, it seems that times have changed? Have they been silenced by the MP, or the Kremlin, or Washington? It's hard to say. But I too have grown tired of the weak material offered on this website, even the blatantly pro-vaccine article recently published under the title "pandemics of the past." At least there are many hierarchs still in the ROC and elsewhere that oppose this. Even if some forces wish to divide the Orthodox world against itself. The Holy Spirit will not allow this.
Nicole5/22/2020 9:20 pm
Axios Met. Nektarios for upholding what I was taught and read daily in the Holy Fathers, Prologue, lives of the Saints and today in certain brave priests and metropolitans. I ask with great sorrow: does Patriarch Kyrill, the ROCOR hierarchy still believe that God is greater than the science He created and All-Healing in his Divine Energies, that He is our Divine Physician and all docs and scientists operate on a completely lower plane? In new grief at this development, I can’t be sure ~ why I no longer rush to this site which formerly shared reliable encouragement from the ROC and ROCOR . Now am hoping someone from the Ukraine or Cyprus or some individual vilified, ridiculed or minimized by various Orthodox hierarchies in harmony with secular politicians will speak up. The new documentary of the life of St. Joseph the Hesychast was a reminder of how often the priest, monk, lay person or hierarch honoring pure Orthodox faith can be vilified by other Orthodox whose faith is not as grounded or firm in the fronema. Thank you for continuing to publish hopeful material amidst the tragic. I will check from time to time. Too weak to bear much of this most distressing of all COVID news.
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