Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus: "Priests Who Oppose Vaccination Commit Fratricide"

Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus, one of the most conservative ecclesiastical leaders in Greece but also one of the first who was vaccinated against the coronavirus, showed a strong reaction to the clergy who oppose vaccination through a TV interview on Tuesday morning, November 9th, saying they commit fratricide and emphasizing that they have no place in the Church.

Answering a relevant question about the abbots of monasteries on Mount Athos who are against vaccinations, he pointed out that "they all kill their brethren, the people do not understand it.... They are so selfish and egotistical that they do not understand this simple truth. Science is not from the devil, it is from God, but the devil has a great art, he is a a master artist. He is chasing us from the left with the most filthy atheism and from the right with zealotry without knowledge."

Greek Politician and Scientist Responds to Criticism After Posting on Social Media About a Miracle He Witnessed

Giannis Kallianos is a 43 year old Greek presenter of meteorological bulletins, mathematician and politician, a member of the New Democracy in the Southern Sector of Athens II. Today, he works at Mega Channel.

On October 16, 2021, the MP became the target of an arson attack on his political office in Argyroupoli. The explosion of the incendiary device caused material damage to the entrance of the apartment building. In a post on Facebook, the MP described the perpetrators as enemies of democracy.

On October 29, 2021, he posted the following on his Facebook and Twitter accounts, responding to comments made from his post on October 26th, the feast of Saint Demetrios, where he mentioned that he attended the Divine Liturgy for the feast of the Great Martyr at the Church of Saint Demetrios in Vyrona, where an icon of the Panagia has been weeping for a year:

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.

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.

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.