Greek government suspends all services of religious worship

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The Greek government has today decided to suspend services in all areas of any religion or dogma until March 30.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis made the announcement via a post on Twitter that churches will remain open only for individual prayer.

“The protection of public health requires clear decisions,” the Greek Prime Minister wrote.

His decision came minutes after the Holy Synod, the ruling body of Greece’s Orthodox Church, decided to suspend all daily worship services except Sunday Divine Liturgies, which will be held as usual between 7 and 8 o’clock in the morning.

Weddings and baptisms were also suspended by the Holy Synod for the next several weeks.

“If absolutely necessary, they will take place under strict limited number of persons,” the Holy Synod wrote in a statement released Monday afternoon.

“Funerals will take place only in restricted family circles, memorial services to be conducted with a restricted number of people at the grave of the deceased.”

No word yet on whether these decisions will be impacted and changed by the Prime Minister’s suspension of all religious services.

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