.png "English"){kind=small}
Archbishop Elpidophoros of America © GOA/Dimitrios Panagos
“Your presence in this online
communication is an act of deep faith and all the questions you have
raised give a clear indication that you are all Orthodox Christians who
love our church and each other. I am sure that with God’s help we will
overcome this ordeal soon and we will all meet in person.”
Archbishop Elpidophoros of America closed his online discussion with
thousands of believers from all over America, on Lazarus Saturday, with
that message.Archbishop Elpidophoros underlined that “our world will change due to
this pandemic,” but also stressed in protothema.gr that “change is an
integral part of this world. The only eternal constant in this world is
God, who is our hope, our refuge and our salvation.”
Answering questions from the faithful, which were conveyed by the expatriate journalist Demetria Kalodimos
from Nashville, Tennessee, anchor for 35 years of the main news
bulletin on a television station that collaborates with NBC, the
Archbishop analyzed the different Easter that believers are called to
experience this year, watching virtually all the Services, via
television and the internet, for the protection of the supreme good,
which is nothing but health and life, and, of course, public health.
Answering questions from believers about the Holy Communion, the
Archbishop made a distinction between it and the ways in which it is
actually offered to the faithful.
As he characteristically said, “we believers receive the Body and
Blood of Christ during the Sacrament of Holy Communion and life is being
transmitted, not a disease or a virus. But in order to transmit the
Holy Communion, we also use tools that are perishable and earthly.”
He added that “what needs to be done at this time is to prevent the
gathering of believers, therefore, the Services in the churches of
America are being held behind closed doors from the beginning of the
pandemic.”
He stressed that “the queues for the Holy Communion, where the
faithful stand close to each other, are long in the Churches, creating
great danger during this critical period.”
Also, answering other questions from believers, he pointed out that
science and faith do not clash with each other, but co-exist at the same
time. We always ought, “as believers, not to provoke God with a
frivolous, irresponsible attitude and regarding issues that we do not
know, to address the scientists who know them.”
