Zaporozhye, Ukraine, January 27, 2021
Photo: spzh.news
His Eminence Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church shared his thoughts on the COVID vaccine and the serious concerns about it among Orthodox Christians on his Telegram channel today.
On the one hand, His Eminence, a doctor of medical science, is concerned about how little is known about the virus and the effects of the vaccine and the obsession that surrounds it, and on the other hand, he encourages his flock to trust in God and His providence and protection over us.
It is understandable, he writes, that the vaccine has become such a major topic. It’s not just some document used for official purposes, but something be injected into our very bodies.
“The fear of missing something important, something that could somehow affect our eternal fate is quite natural,” he writes. “After all, a truly Orthodox Christian would rather accept death than accept the seal of the antichrist out of fear of death,” he notes.
We must remember to rely on God and trust that He will not allow His children to be “scammed,” the Metropolitan writes: “First of all, I would like to remind everyone of the need to trust in God’s Providence and that God is not only our Creator, but also our Father. No father would allow scammers and charlatans to fool his children, especially one Who has unlimited power and unlimited love for those for whom He did not spare His own Son.”
The devil is much smarter and more cunning than us, thus we supplicate the Lord that He might “protect us from all his machinations and traps.” Fear darkens the mind, but “love and faith enlighten it,” His Eminence assures.
“Therefore, it would be right to resort to prayer and take care of our inner spiritual life more than to inflame panic in our hearts,” Met. Luke exhorts.
While he has his concerns about the vaccine, His Eminence also believes some concerns are unfounded.
“As a doctor of medical sciences, I can carefully express my opinion that I do not yet see any direct connection between our faith, consciousness, free will, and vaccination,” he notes. “The assumptions that are related to the effect of the vaccine on human DNA, I also consider rather fantastic, because they contradict the scientific data.”
However, he also adds that there is great danger in vaccines produced with new technologies that have not been properly tested. “We do not know the full clinical picture of their impact on the human body,” His Eminence warns. “Especially if they are made from a substrate obtained from abortive material.”
“I would have more confidence in vaccines made using traditional technologies that were developed in soviet medical science,” the Zaporozhye archpastor writes.
Too little time has passed to know much about the virus and the effectiveness of the vaccine, and, “I, of course, like many of you, am alarmed by the obsession with which we are being offered vaccinations, and the political and economic processes that have been launched in connection with the global pandemic.”
“It is quite possible that there are plans behind them that are not really related to either the virus or its localization,” Met. Luke warns.
But, he reassures, our souls and our faith are untouchable: “Only we can decide our eternal fate by our own will.” Even the Lord Himself does not transgress our freedom, and certainly other people and the fallen angels do not have the right to “access” our souls, if we do not let them.
“I am sure of one thing—no one and nothing can prevent a man who sincerely strives for salvation and does everything possible to attain it at every moment, for God is and will be with such people!” His Eminence concludes.
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