From the Office of the Holy Synod of Bishops
23. March 2020 - 18:44
Communique of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church
On
the third week of Great Lent (Sunday of the Veneration of the Holy
Cross) the Divine Liturgy was served in all churches of the Serbian
Orthodox Church, in compliance with all instructions being required for
protection from the COVID-19 virus (no more than five people inside the
church, the faithful standing in front and on the side of the church to
practice social distancing, etc.). However, uninvited guests from
well-known anti-church and anti-Serbian circles appeared, and as a
result their media and the media partial to them began an orchestrated
and slanderous chase against the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Those concerned citizens (unfortunately, we cannot say concerned gentlemen)
accuse us, namely, that we are communing the faithful from the same
Chalice, in the traditional manner practiced for already two thousand
years. They declare it a violation of the binding instructions of the
state authorities, which is a pure lie, since the state does not deal
with, nor can it deal with the content and manner of conducting the
Divine Liturgy and other church services. That is the sole matter of
internal or autonomous church order and legislation, which the state
accepts as valid, legitimate and legal in the sphere of public law.
After
all, no one is being forced to take Communion but receives it
voluntarily. The expectation of those who neither come to church nor
partake of Holy Communion, is both unreasonable and utterly malicious
that the Church itself would deny to its believers that which they deem
most important and sacred - Holy Communion. Once again we appeal to all
the faithful to consistently and responsibly apply all the measures
prescribed during this difficult period, especially that they enter the
holy churches for prayer and blessing individually or in groups of up to
five, during services in larger churches the faithful are to congregate
in several permitted groups, practicing social distancing as much as
possible between them, and also when following the service outdoors,
under the open sky, to not gather in groups greater than the permitted
number and distance themselves from one another within each group and
between groups.
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