Communique regarding the COVID-19 (Corona) virus (31 March 2020)

ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE
Communiqué

With the Communiqué of 18 March, the Ecumenical Patriarchate announced the decision to suspend all ecclesiastical rites and events within its territory, until the end of the month, as well as its intention to return to the issue, should it be deemed necessary by current developments.

Already, because cases of COVID-19 are dramatically multiplying throughout the world, with many casualties, and because, for this reason, the imposition – and rightly so – of strict and restrictive measures continue in almost every country, the abovementioned ban will unavoidably remain valid for the Sacred Center of the Phanar and the Dioceses of the Ecumenical Throne throughout the globe until further notice, depending on the course of the pandemic.

The Mother Church of Constantinople prays and wishes that the appropriate effective medicine to combat the disease will be found soon, so as to overcome this great crisis and to address its effects on society and the economy.

From the Chief Secretariat
of the Holy and Sacred Synod