Greek Priest Convicted of Serving Liturgy on Annunciation During Pandemic (+Video)

Pravoslavie ^ | 10/12/22

[marshmallow]

The Court of First Instance in Patras, Greece, convicted a well-known priest of the Orthodox Church of Greece on Monday for having celebrated the Divine Liturgy on the feast of Annunciation in 2020 during the COVID pandemic.

All services were banned by order of the Greek state at that time, and other priests also found themselves in trouble with the law.

Protopresbyter Anastasios Gotsopoulos, who served in the Church of St. Nicholas in Patras on March 25, 2020, received a suspended sentence of 8 months in prison, reports Vima Orthodoxias.

Fr. Anastasios is also known as an outspoken critic of ecumenism and the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine.”

Dozens of supporters gathered outside the courthouse on Monday with shouts of “Axios!” (“Worthy!”), greeting him with cheers and applause as he left the building:

In a statement made after receiving the sentence, Fr. Anastasios gave thanks to God for the opportunity to suffer for his priestly ministry, emphasizing that his stance hasn’t changed.

“Today the Greek Judiciary awarded me the highest honor that can be attributed to a priest: It sentenced me to 8 months in prison with suspension because I celebrated the Divine Liturgy on the feast of the Annunciation, on March 25, 2020, i.e. because I fulfilled my priestly and ministerial duty and I tried to be fundamentally consistent towards my conscience, my parishioners, our Church Tradition, and God,” the priest said.

[Nervous Tick]

GOD bless these dedicated men. They WILL receive their reward for keeping Him first. And they set a good example for us to imitate.