Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) urged older people to refuse to visit churches on Christmas due to the risk of contracting coronavirus infection. The head of the Synodal Department for External Church Relations, Metropolitan Hilarion, announced this on the air of “Russia 24”, RBC reports.
“We, too, for our elderly parishioners, including those living in Moscow and a number of regions of Russia, do not recommend visiting temples whenever possible, but we recommend watching the services through live broadcasts,” he said.
At the same time, Hilarion assured that there is an opportunity for the elderly to receive Holy Communion at home.
In December, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia urged believers to donate blood plasma with antibodies to coronavirus. He also blessed the rectors of the capital’s churches on December 13 and 19, after the end of the Divine Liturgy, to tell the Russians about the opportunity to donate plasma.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in Russia, 3,212,637 cases of infection have been identified. Over the entire period, 2,599,035 people were cured, another 58,002 patients died.