ATHENS – The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece issued an announcement recommending to the faithful that they remain calm, follow the prescribed preventive measures and, of course, pray “to Jesus Christ Who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light.”

Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece and asked for the Church’s assistance in informing the faithful. Archbishop Ieronymos reassured Prime Minister Mitsotakis that “the Church of Greece stands by the Greek State and will lend all its support to the progress of the Greek people.”

The Holy Synod in an encyclical, calls on the faithful to “intensify all our prayers to Jesus Christ, Who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light, in order to safeguard His creation in a healthy and complete way.”

In addition, the Holy Synod recommends that those who have symptoms of the disease temporarily refrain from public activities as well as from embracing and kissing other people for the sake of public health.

Finally, the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece points out that that every difficulty – even disease – can be an opportunity for cohesion and highlights the positive side of human relations, which can be expressed with courage, calmness, and solidarity, adding that “all Orthodox Christians are called to serve the will of God, knowing that the divine and dignified treatment of illness constitutes people’s participation in the martyrdom of conscience and sacrifice before God…[their] essential help and co-operation in order to prevent the disease’s transmission leads to love.”