The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople on Wednesday issued an encyclical announcing that all services, as of the Saturday of Lazarus, on April 11, will be conducted at one cathedral per archdiocese and metropolis under the Archdiocese of Constantinople’s jurisdiction, and of course, without the presence of worshipers.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate added that live-streaming of services will be conducted in a single cathedral per eparchy of the Patriarchate, in a bid to avoid transforming the holy liturgies into a “television spectacle”, as it noted.
At the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the Fanari district of the Bosporus metropolis, the broadcast and Internet coverage of the services will be shown only from the St. George Patriarchal Cathedral.
Decisions involving overseas eparchies will be taken by the hierarchs there, based on the guidelines issued by local state and public health officials.
Services will be held normally at Patriarchal monasteries and nunneries for the resident monastic communities, but without the presence of pilgrims.
READ MORE: Ecumenical Patriarchate issues announcement regarding the divine services during the upcoming Holy and Great Week and Pascha
In a related development, Greece’s newly sworn-in president of the republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, this week conveyed a warm message of appreciation to the Ecumenical Patriarch, His All Holiness Bartholomew I, in reply to the Mother Church’s congratulations on her assumption of the highest office in Greece.
Sakellaropoulou, in her letter, emphasized that she will continue to support the work and mission of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.