SYNODAL  COMMUNIQUÉ CONCERNING  THE  PRESENT  EPIDEMIC  CRISIS

SYNODAL  COMMUNIQUÉ
 
CONCERNING THE PRESENT CRISIS OCCASIONED BY THE EPIDEMIC
 
 
The Holy Synod of the Church of Genuine Orthodox Christians of Greece, under the presidency of His Beatitude, Archbishop Kallinikos of Athens, during its meeting on  July 10/23, 2021, evaluated the situation created by the present epidemic and expressed its complete opposition to the de facto imposition of vaccination by the State, especially as this is presented and advocated by the greater part of the Greek mass media.
 
We insist on the right to objective information from every side and on the right of every citizen to make his or her own voluntary decision on this matter, without pressure. Neither mandates nor incentives are the best means of persuading the people. We believe that vaccination should NOT be obligatory for any category of citizens, and we regard as unacceptable any form of discrimination against those vaccinated or those not vaccinated.
 
Our Synod observes with sadness the effort to separate the people into vaccinated and unvaccinated, and also the denigration of the latter as supposedly irresponsible and as displaying antisocial behavior and of the former as supposed docile instruments of the new world order. The enormous flood of information from both sides, especially on the Internet, provides abundant argumentation for both factions. Thus, while every person has the right to make his or her own decisionit is unacceptable to stigmatize those who have formed a different opinion on the matter.
 
We declare that, as far as we are concerned, we do not permit any form of discrimination in the spiritual service of the faithful. Whether vaccinated or not, all of our faithful are welcome in our Churches and may partake of the salvific and sacred Mysteries of the Church. Clergymen who discriminate to the detriment of the faithful on the basis of whether or not they are vaccinated are subject to ecclesiastical censure.
 
 
~ From the Chancery of the Holy Synod, August 1/14, 2021