Church of Greece announces earlier times for services during upcoming Easter Week

Greece’s highly influential Autocephalous Orthodox Church on Tuesday announced that services during upcoming Easter Week will be conducted earlier that traditionally held, while the iconic midnight Resurrection service will be scheduled for 9 p.m.

The reason for the change in the holding of services is directly related to public distancing measures and restrictions to prevent a spread of the Covid-19 virus.

Easter Week on the Orthodox Christian calendar begins on April 25, which is Palm Sunday, and culminates on Easter Sunday, which falls on May 2. The vast majority of Greeks belong to the Orthodox faith.

The decision was taken by hierarchs of Church of Greece’s permanent Holy Synod, who remotely convened earlier in the day under the chairmanship of Archbishop Ieronymos.

The midnight Resurrection Service is the climax of the highly devotional and reverent Orthodox Easter Week.

The ratio for worshippers allowed in places of worship, one person per 25 square meters of interior space, will be maintained.

Any possible changes in the current pandemic-related restrictions in the east Mediterranean country will come on Friday, following a recommendation by a “blue chip” panel of epidemiologists and public health experts.