Monday, October 18, 2021

Synaxis of All the Holy Physicians


At the session of the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which took place on the 21st of July 2021, under the chairmanship Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, discussed and appreciated were the sacrificial and essential contribution of medical science and its healers in tackling the pandemic.

Therefore, it was decided to establish the feast of the "Synaxis of All the Holy Physicians" on the Sunday of each year closest to the 17th and 18th of October, when the Synaxis of the Holy Unmercennary Saints and the memory of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke the Physician are celebrated. On this day, the "Synaxis of the Holy Physicians", the Church will honor the full contribution of medical science and its healers to humanity.

Thursday, October 14, 2021

Diverse Pandemics: Follow Up to the Pastoral Encyclical to Clergy Regarding Protective Measures Against the Coronavirus Pandemic (Part 1 of 2)


By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

Dealing with intense pastoral and social issues is, in a way, risky. It is better not to touch on such issues and to deal simply with indifferent issues, but, in the end, this is also ineffective.

As a responsible ecclesiastical pastor I need to make decisions and articulate my thoughts on various critical issues in order to inform Christians. If one is an ascetic in the wilderness of Mount Athos, perhaps he would not need to intervene, but to say a word to those who ask him, according to "the Elder said". However, the pastoral ministry has obligations and duties towards the Christians who are pastored.

Thus, a while ago I wrote an Encyclical for the Clergy of my Sacred Metropolis, so that there would be no serious cases among the priests, and that this "evil" would not spread to the entire fullness of the Church, so that Christians attribute the spread of the disease to the Clergy. Those involved in social and ecclesiastical work must take action. It would be unreasonable for Doctors in Hospitals to perform surgeries or other treatments and not to take the necessary precautionary measures.

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Science is in the DNA of our Orthodox Faith


 By Archimandrite Iakovos Kanakis

The relationship between Faith, Theology and Science is clarified early on, already from the Biblical texts. From Genesis, the first book of the Bible, it is clear that God created the world. How the world was created, however, is left to the reader to answer over time. It is as if God scattered His "breadcrumbs" throughout creation and called man, the "expert", to discover them. And indeed, man gradually discovered much. With wisdom, from above and beyond, he found cures for diseases, developed technology and thus made human life easier. In fact, his life expectancy increased. Today, there are even remote surgeries and so many other similar things. God has blessed science and scientists and we have so many benefits today. But the "problems" start when the roles get confused. When the scientist does not see God "behind his achievements", when he acts arrogantly like a little god, and when the theologian, on the other hand, tries to place things "narrowly" by entering fields he does not know. The same thing happens when he constantly finds "demons" in front of him, flooded with suspicions.