Consultation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate regarding the Pandemic
“The Pastoring Church in the days of the Pandemic”
Recognizing the unprecedented situations and complex difficulties that have been created by the Pandemic COVID-19, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has allotted the Network of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for Pastoral Health Care the responsibility of organizing an online Consultation with the theme: “The Pastoring Church in the days of the Pandemic”.
The Consultation will provide the opportunity for local Churches and health care professionals and providers to exchange the experiences and difficulties they are currently facing. Those participating will concern themselves with how a Pastoring Church can support those that have been afflicted by the virus, together with those that mourn lost ones who were succumbed by it. It will seek out how to provide spiritual care to those that strenuously serve in the areas of Health Care and how to establish a better cooperation with them in their efforts to save lives. The participants will explore ways in which the Church can reach out to those that are alone and isolated during periods of “lockdown”, and minister to families whose life and well-being have been disrupted. Another area of discussion will focus on the clergy who are facing various attacks, opposing positions and counter position regarding the Pandemic. Furthermore, participants will explore how to deal with the grave consequences of the Pandemic after its passing.
Foremost, the Consultation will deal with how we live our Faith and our life in the Church during these “days of tribulation”.
The Consultation will begin on Wednesday December 16, 2020 at 7:00 pm (Athens Time). In this session, we will try to answer the question: “What does it mean to be a “Church” during a ‘lockdown’ due to a Pandemic?” The main speaker will be the distinguished and Honorable Mr. Demetrios Mavropoulos, (theologian, author and publisher). Discussion will follow his presentation. This first “synaxis” will last for about one hour and forty-five minutes.
The Consultation will continue in intervals throughout several weeks. Following this meeting, approximately every two weeks, a meeting will be scheduled at which different themes will be presented and discussed. There will be simultaneous translations in Greek and English.
Network of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for Pastoral Health Care
Phone: +30-6986 73 2505
Email: [email protected]
