Greece's archbishop hospitalized with coronavirus symptoms

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Greece’s archbishop hospitalized with coronavirus symptoms

By ELENA BECATOROS
November 19, 2020

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The head of the Orthodox Church of Greece, Archbishop Ieronymos, has been hospitalized after being diagnosed with COVID-19, the Archdiocese of Athens announced Thursday.

The 82-year-old archbishop was hospitalized in an augmented care unit of Athens’ Evangelismos Hospital, the hospital said. The Archbishop of Albania, Anastasios, is also being treated for COVID-19 in Evangelismos since being airlifted to Greece last week.

The Archdiocese said Ieronymos had “mild symptoms of the coronavirus,” and was admitted to hospital following the recommendations of his doctors.

Shortly before being admitted, Ieronymos told his close associates that he was participating personally “in the ordeal that concerns thousands of our brothers in our country and millions throughout the world,” according to the Archdiocese.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-athens-greece-europe-bea81440f66d10c3497161d31fa2103d


FILE - In this May 10, 2018, file photo, Greece's Orthodox Church Archbishop Ieronymos poses during the visit of Britain's Prince Charles in Athens. The head of the Orthodox Church of Greece, Archbishop Ieronymos, has been hospitalized after being diagnosed with COVID-19, a leading Athens hospital said Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

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The recent death of a senior clergyman in the Greek Orthodox Church has revived a debate over the safety of receiving communion during the pandemic, as a shared spoon is used for the whole congregation. The church insists there can be no danger of transmission as communion is the blood and body of Christ and therefore cannot transmit any disease. It says it has complied with all public safety restrictions.

Metropolitan Bishop Ioannis of Lagadas, 62, was buried earlier this week after dying of COVID-19. The town of Lagadas near the northern city of Thessaloniki, is in a region currently experiencing the highest rate of infection in a surge of the coronavirus in Greece.

A nationwide lockdown has been imposed until the end of the month in an effort to get the spread under control. Greece, a country of about 11 million people, currently has more than 82,000 confirmed positive coronavirus cases and nearly 1,300 deaths.

The bishop had been an outspoken advocate of continuing communion during the coronavirus pandemic, and the church’s governing body, the Holy Synod, hit out at critics who reacted to his death by saying the practice of communion harbors dangers of spreading the virus.

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