The following is a response to Bishop Pitirim’s “Lessons of a Pandemic” which has been making the rounds on the internet. In short, his Grace stated confidently that, “I got infected in the temple in the service.” It appears people have taken this as some sort of validation for closing the churches (which is a bigger issue I will not treat here).
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I want to warn everyone who has read “Lessons of a Pandemic” that we need not be hasty. We are warned in the Scriptures:
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires (1 Tim 4:3).
We need to be careful not to accept something simply because we agree with its premise. We must consider the contents of what is stated.
In the message, Bishop Pitirim wrote, “I got infected in the temple in the service…This is an answer to all those who hold that you cannot get infected inside the church walls. You can, and how!”
This is certainly possible. Any of us can get sick at church, groceries we brought into the house by not cleaning them, bringing in back the trash can after the garbage men emptied it, and etcetera.
But, this is not what his Grace said. He said he definitely got sick in church.
We must ask ourselves: Which doctor confirmed that specifically where he got infected? How does he know it was “airborne droplets?” Does he have the gift of prophecy? Could his driver, who is out and about, cough on his food or did he prepare his own? Did he clean his own groceries?
I ask these questions because I know people firsthand who got Covid 19 near NYC that never left their house.
Coronavirus is very contagious. Read the news. It stays on surfaces, like in the cruise ship, for (potentially) over three weeks. The Bishop could have been infected by opening a banana someone purchased for him. This is certainly possible as it is also possible he got sick from someone speaking close to him during confession or any other number of possibilities.
What makes my alarm go off is how is he so sure that he got sick in church? And why publicly and with confidence declare something which, scientifically, he would have no way of knowing?
And for those of us reading it: why are we not asking these questions?
Pray for your leaders, both those in temporal and spiritual authority. And most of all, pray for me.
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Orthodox Christian Theology 
So do you deny that the outbreaks happening among Russian and Ukrainian clergy and monasteries had anything to do with disobeying the state’s orders to limit service attendance and do social distancing?
So do you deny that outbreaks did not occur in Georgia and Bulgaria, who kept their parishes open to the public on Pascha (and beforehand)? Are we hastily making religious decisions for bad theological reasons and bad science to boot?
There are many factors that could have gone into that including having a different strain of the virus, keeping borders secure, etc. But the fact remains that even if there wasn’t an outbreak in some churches, it doesn’t mean they didn’t occur in others. Why do you think so many Russian and Ukrainian monasteries are being hit hard by the virus?
If there is a chance that what’s happening over there could happen here, then I’m perfectly happy obeying our God appointed civil and ecclesiastical authorities and staying home.
I think the virus spread because its real and that worshipping God is not some magic elixir to avoid sickness. We can get sick simply going out. However, I am not going to blame the Eucharist or the holy icons. You can get sick breathing the air in church, walking out, walking to your car, picking up food on your way home, etcetera.
We need to be like Mesach, Shedrack, and Abednego who said God would not let them perish if they were to be thrown in the oven and if He does, so be it, they will not bow to idols.
As for me, worship is possible in a way more hygenic than supermarkets (being that the whole premise of shopping is us grabbing crap other people grabbed.) Keeping distance within the Church or holding liturgy outside (as Ukraine did), wearing face masks other than when communing or venerating icons/relics, keeping hand sanitizer handy, etcetera. In order to make the governing authorities happy, I think that multiple liturgies a week can be done as well as, with the Bishop’s permission, receiving communion in one’s hand or (as the Syrian Oriental Orthodox do) directly in one’s mouth.
We just want to avoid 1. adding rubbing alcohol or something into the Eucharist via cross contamination, 2. closing down worship when we need God to heal the land, 3. any pretense that the Eucharist or Holy Icons make people sick from the exception it is God’s will that you get sick.
We must be willing to accept God’s will.
I very much agree with your sentiment about the Eucharist, however is it really the case that the Eucharist CANNOT spread illness? People with celiac disease are long known to have issues with wheat in the Eucharist, and often the same people who are saying the Eucharist cannot get you sick are the same people pretending that celiacs don’t exist or just dismiss their experiences. What are your thoughts on this?
In short, I know two clergymen that do get sick somewhat regularly due to one having chrones and the other having hyperglyceima (or something). I also know people, one who’s authority I trust extremely highly that have finished communion after someone communed with contagious disease or are a legit celiac, and not get sick.
So, I see both. And I do not believe that the latter or holier than the former or vice versa. God has His reasons. I think He demands a much higher state of preparation from some than others for His reasons.
God bless
Craig
Finally a reasonable answer to this question! Thank you and God bless!
I think you may find my video on this topic made *before* Coronavirus got big. It was made March 7th. So, it’s a bit of a time capsule. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEutvnm6onE&t=380s
In short, I reiterate the same ideas. Only communing unworthily makes people sick, but God holds people to different standards and its clear that some people will not get sick with less preparation or sick with a lot of preparation for His mysterious reasons.