The COVID Orders

The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia is considered by many pious and faithful Orthodox Christians to be a bastion of tradition: a Church that held the line during Soviet persecution, that preserved the practices of Holy Russia in exile, that would never compromise on matters of faith. Many of these same faithful view Patriarch Kirill himself as a defender of Orthodox tradition.

During COVID, these same pious and traditional Orthodox Christians in America were horrified by what they witnessed: churches closed, sacraments suspended, liturgical practices altered beyond recognition. They watched in disbelief as the Holy Mysteries were treated as biohazards.

What they do not know is that these measures did not originate with modernist bishops in America. They came from Moscow. They were ordered, blessed, and enforced by Patriarch Kirill himself.

Many have defended these measures with appeals to obedience, public health, and love of neighbor. Before examining what Patriarch Kirill ordered, let us recall what the Church proclaims.

What the Church Proclaims

Every Pascha, the Orthodox Church reads St. John Chrysostom’s Paschal Homily:

Let no one fear death, for the Savior’s death has set us free. He that was taken by death has annihilated it! He descended into Hades and took Hades captive!

— St. John Chrysostom, Paschal Homily, https://www.oca.org/fs/sermons/the-paschal-sermon^[1]

It is a command: “Let no one fear death.” The entire Paschal celebration is the proclamation of Christ’s victory over death. The Church proclaims this doctrine every year on the holiest night of the Christian calendar.

St. Ignatius of Antioch, writing to the Ephesians at the dawn of the second century, named the Eucharist with three titles:

Breaking one bread, which is the medicine of immortality, the antidote against death, so as to live in Jesus Christ forever.

— St. Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Ephesians 20.2^[2][3]

Medicine of immortality. Antidote against death. Life in Christ forever.

The Holy Mysteries are a confession of faith. When the priest communes the faithful, he offers them the incorruptible Body and Blood of Christ. To receive Holy Communion while fearing that the chalice transmits disease is to contradict what the Church confesses with her lips. The mouth says “Amen” while the heart believes the Holy Gifts are biohazards.

If the Church proclaims “Let no one fear death” every Pascha, and confesses the Holy Mysteries as the incorruptible Body and Blood of Christ, what would it mean for a patriarch to order the faithful to stay home from Pascha out of fear of death? What would it mean to disinfect communion spoons with alcohol, as though Christ’s Body could transmit disease?

The Record

Every quote below is Patriarch Kirill’s own words, published on his own website, in his own language, linked directly to patriarchia.ru.

On March 17, 2020, the Moscow Patriarchate published official instructions distributed to every parish in the Russian Orthodox Church:

The document was approved by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

— patriarchia.ru, March 17, 2020, http://www.patriarchia.ru/article/100957^[4]

These were orders, approved directly by Patriarch Kirill.

1. Alcohol disinfection of communion spoons.

Преподавать Святые Христовы Тайны с обтиранием после каждого причастника лжицы пропитанным спиртом платом (с регулярным обновлением пропитки) и окунанием затем ее в воду с последующей утилизацией воды согласно практике, предусмотренной при стирке платов.

Administer the Holy Mysteries of Christ with the wiping after each communicant of the communion spoon with a cloth saturated in alcohol (with regular renewal of the saturation) and then dipping it in water with subsequent disposal of the water according to the practice prescribed for washing purificators.

— Patriarch Kirill, Instructions of March 17, 2020, Point 1, http://www.patriarchia.ru/article/100957

2. Prohibition on kissing the Chalice.

Причастникам воздерживаться от лобзания Чаши.

Communicants should refrain from kissing the Chalice.

— Patriarch Kirill, Instructions of March 17, 2020, Point 5, http://www.patriarchia.ru/article/100957

3. Prohibition on kissing the priest’s hand.

Священнослужителям рекомендуется воздерживаться от преподания руки для целования.

Clergy are recommended to refrain from offering their hand for kissing.

— Patriarch Kirill, Instructions of March 17, 2020, Point 11, http://www.patriarchia.ru/article/100957

4. Icons treated with disinfectant.

Регулярно обрабатывать дезинфицирующими растворами иконы, находящиеся в храме, к которым прикладываются прихожане.

Regularly treat with disinfecting solutions the icons in the church that parishioners venerate.

— Patriarch Kirill, Instructions of March 17, 2020, Point 19, http://www.patriarchia.ru/article/100957

5. The Cross forbidden to be kissed.

Вместо преподания креста для лобзания по окончании Божественной литургии и иных служб рекомендуется возлагать крест на головы прихожан.

Instead of offering the cross for kissing at the end of the Divine Liturgy and other services, it is recommended to place the cross on the heads of parishioners.

— Patriarch Kirill, Instructions of March 17, 2020, Point 9, http://www.patriarchia.ru/article/100957

And further:

6. Scripture twisted to justify compliance.

Объяснять прихожанам, что исполнение вводимых предписаний и ограничений следует воспринимать как следование словам Священного Писания: «не искушай Господа Бога твоего» (Мф. 4:7). Также объяснять прихожанам, что в случае появления симптомов ОРВИ или иных заразных болезней им следует ради любви к ближним и заботы о них воздерживаться от посещения храмов.

Explain to parishioners that compliance with the introduced regulations and restrictions should be perceived as following the words of Holy Scripture: “You shall not tempt the Lord your God” (Matt. 4:7). Also explain to parishioners that in case of symptoms of acute respiratory viral infection or other contagious diseases, they should, out of love for their neighbors and care for them, refrain from visiting churches.

— Patriarch Kirill, Instructions of March 17, 2020, Point 22, http://www.patriarchia.ru/article/100957

Christ spoke these words to Satan in the wilderness. To apply them to communion inverts their meaning: trusting in the Holy Mysteries becomes “tempting God.”

The night of Pascha approaches.

7. Pascha abandoned: The faithful told to stay home on the holiest night.

On March 29, 2020, Patriarch Kirill delivered a sermon calling the faithful to stay home:

Призываю вас, мои дорогие, воздержаться от посещения храмов в ближайшие дни, пока не будет особого Патриаршего благословения.

I call upon you, my dear ones, to refrain from going to church in the coming days, until there is a special Patriarchal blessing.

— Patriarch Kirill, Sermon of March 29, 2020, http://www.patriarchia.ru/article/102074

The very night when the Church reads “Let no one fear death, for the Savior’s death has set us free,” the faithful were told to stay home out of fear of death from a virus.

Fr. Peter Heers, an Orthodox priest who compiled the patristic witness against the COVID closures, documented this in Let No One Fear Death.

Priests who dared to serve were threatened.

8. Clergy threatened with tribunals for disobedience.

On April 27, 2020, Patriarch Kirill issued an official decree warning clergy:

В тех случаях, когда несоблюдение этих распоряжений и указаний повлечет за собой заражение человека коронавирусной инфекцией с последующей его смертью по причине этого заражения, виновный может быть привлечен к церковному суду, а в иных случаях — к церковно-административной ответственности в связи с намеренным игнорированием мер, позволяющих уберечь людей от массового заражения смертельной болезнью.

In cases where non-compliance with these directives and instructions leads to a person being infected with coronavirus with subsequent death due to this infection, the guilty party may be brought before a church court, and in other cases, to church-administrative responsibility in connection with intentional ignoring of measures designed to protect people from mass infection with a deadly disease.

— Patriarch Kirill, Decree of April 27, 2020, https://www.patriarchia.ru/article/101880

9. Vaccines developed from aborted children blessed; refusing them declared a “sin.”

In 2000, the Russian Orthodox Church formally declared:

The Church cannot approve medical procedures involving the use of human embryonic cells or fetal tissues obtained as a result of abortion.

— The Basis of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church, Chapter XII.7, 2000, https://old.mospat.ru/en/documents/social-concepts/^[5]

In 2020, twenty years later, Patriarch Kirill blessed the Sputnik V vaccine, developed using the HEK-293 aborted fetal cell line. Patriarch Kirill himself received the vaccine and publicly encouraged the faithful to be vaccinated.

In July 2021, Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the Department for External Church Relations (and Patriarch Kirill’s chief ecumenist), went further, declaring that refusing vaccination is itself a sin:

The sin is thinking about yourself instead of thinking about other people. We are responsible, each of us, not only for ourselves and not only for our loved ones, but also for all those who come into contact with us… If a person does not get vaccinated without good reason and spreads the infection to someone who then dies, he will have to atone for this sin all his life.

— Metropolitan Hilarion, Russia 24 interview, July 5, 2021, https://www.rt.com/russia/528425-orthodox-church-anti-vaxx-sin/

Both the closure of churches and the blessing of a vaccine derived from aborted tissue share the same logic: fear of death taking precedence over the faith the Church proclaims.

10. The Patriarch’s theology: faith in the Holy Mysteries called a “devilish counterfeit.”

Nine months after issuing these orders, Patriarch Kirill addressed the Moscow Diocesan Assembly on December 24, 2020, and provided the theological reasoning behind them.

On why the Church adopted sanitary measures:

Никто не ставит и не может поставить под сомнение действие благодати Божией. Но факт остается фактом: вера многих людей не простирается так далеко, чтобы ею полностью изгонялся страх перед опасностью.

No one questions or can question the action of God’s grace. But the fact remains: the faith of many people does not extend so far as to completely banish the fear of danger.

— Patriarch Kirill, Moscow Diocesan Assembly, December 24, 2020, https://moseparh.ru/doklad-svyatejshego-patriarxa-kirilla-na-eparxialnom-sobranii-g-moskvy-24-dekabrya-2020-goda.html

The Paschal Homily commands: “Let no one fear death.” The Patriarch’s response: their faith is too weak for that. Rather than strengthening their faith by proclaiming the power of the Holy Mysteries, he accommodated the fear. He described the measures as taken “ради немощи некоторых”: “for the weakness of some.”

Addressing those who objected that disinfecting communion spoons showed lack of faith in the Holy Mysteries, Kirill turned the accusation around. Those who believe the Holy Mysteries cannot transmit disease are, in his words, guilty of something far worse than weak faith:

В самой грубой форме это выражается в самонадеянных словах, что, дескать, «меня ничего не коснется, потому что я все делаю правильно»… Фактически это является своевольным требованием чуда от Бога — чуда ради самоутверждения и похвальбы, ради прославления собственного имени. Именно с таким искушением, лживо цитируя Священное Писание, приступил к Самому Спасителю диавол в пустыне и был посрамлен (см. Мф. 4:3-7). Это соблазн магизма, который на самом деле есть холодное суеверие, личина веры, по существу — дьявольская подделка, исключающая необходимость личного служения Господу, хранения живой, разумной и деятельной веры в Божие милосердие и всемогущество.

In its crudest form this is expressed in the self-assured words that, supposedly, “nothing will touch me because I do everything right”… In fact, this is a willful demand for a miracle from God, a miracle for the sake of self-affirmation and boasting, for the glorification of one’s own name. It was with precisely this temptation, falsely citing Sacred Scripture, that the devil approached the Savior Himself in the wilderness and was put to shame (see Matt. 4:3-7). This is the temptation of magism, which in reality is cold superstition, a mask of faith, essentially a devilish counterfeit, excluding the need for personal service to the Lord, for the preservation of a living, reasonable, and active faith in God’s mercy and omnipotence. (Emphasis added.)

— Patriarch Kirill, Moscow Diocesan Assembly, December 24, 2020, https://moseparh.ru/doklad-svyatejshego-patriarxa-kirilla-na-eparxialnom-sobranii-g-moskvy-24-dekabrya-2020-goda.html

St. Ignatius of Antioch calls the Eucharist the “medicine of immortality, the antidote against death.” Patriarch Kirill calls faith in this teaching “magism,” “cold superstition,” and a “devilish counterfeit.” The Apostolic Father confesses the incorruptibility of the Mysteries; the Patriarch of Moscow calls this confession satanic.

The Verdict

This is the record: the Patriarch’s own directives, on his own website, in his own words.

The Paschal Homily commands: “Let no one fear death.” The directives commanded: stay home out of fear of death. The Church confesses the Holy Mysteries as incorruptible. The directives treated them as disease vectors requiring alcohol disinfection.

The communion spoon disinfected with alcohol. The Chalice forbidden to be kissed. The Cross forbidden to be kissed. The icons treated with disinfectant. The faithful told to stay home from Pascha. The priests threatened with tribunals for serving. The vaccine developed from an aborted child blessed, and refusal declared a sin. And when the faithful asked why, the Patriarch answered: your faith in the Holy Mysteries is “magism,” “cold superstition,” a “devilish counterfeit.”

A Church that believed what the Paschal Homily proclaims would not have issued these directives. When tested, these directives chose the fear of death over the faith of the Resurrection. And when challenged, the Patriarch did not repent. He called the faith of the saints a satanic temptation.

Many have attempted to justify these measures. Hierarchs and synods defended the protocols: Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew^[6], Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev)^[7], Archbishop Elpidophoros^[8], Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos^[9], the Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America^[10], the Inter-Council Presence of the Moscow Patriarchate^[11], and the Abbot of Valaam Monastery, who mandated vaccination on pain of dismissal^[12]. Priests and commentators followed: Fr. Cyril Hovorun^[13], Fr. Nicholas Dassouras^[14], Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick^[15], Rev. Bohdan Hladio^[16], Seraphim Hamilton^[17], the anonymous polemicist of TheoriaTV^[18], and the Archons John Catsimatidis and Michael Psaros^[19]. Academics provided cover: Fordham’s Orthodox Christian Studies Center^[20], Dr. Sarah Riccardi-Swartz^[21], Dr. Cassandra Oehler^[22], and the Orthodox scientists Creticos, Nedelescu, and Woloschak^[23].

Against all of these stands the patristic witness compiled by Priestmonk Kosmas of Orthodox Talks. His two studies remain the most thorough treatment of the COVID protocols from the witness of the Holy Fathers and the Holy Canons:

• “For the Orthodox Faithful who are Confused About Covidism”: https://www.orthodoxtalks.com/for-the-orthodox-faithful-who-are-confused-about-covidism/
• “The Heresies of Ecumenism and Covidism”: https://www.orthodoxtalks.com/the-heresies-of-ecumenism-and-covidism/

To this day, no one has adequately answered these arguments, nor can they be answered, because they rest on the unchanging witness of the saints. The patristic case is itself the verdict, and this book will not rehash what Priestmonk Kosmas has already demonstrated. What remains to be addressed is the one defense most persistently offered by those who seek to justify the protocols: obedience. The following chapter takes up that question.

1. Original Greek: “«Μηδείς φοβείσθω τον θάνατον, ηλευθέρωσε γαρ ημάς ο του Σωτήρος θάνατος. Έσβεσεν αυτόν υπ’ αυτού κατεχόμενος. Εσκύλευσε τον Άδην ο κατελθών εις τον Άδην!»” ↩

2. St. Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Ephesians 20.2 (shorter recension). Greek text from The Apostolic Fathers, ed. J.B. Lightfoot and J.R. Harmer (London, 1891). The longer recension adds καθαρτήριον ἀλεξίκακον: “a purifying agent that wards off evil.” ↩

3. Original Greek: “ἕνα ἄρτον κλῶντες, ὅς ἐστιν φάρμακον ἀθανασίας, ἀντίδοτος τοῦ μὴ ἀποθανεῖν, ἀλλὰ ζῆν ἐν Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ διὰ παντός.” ↩

4. Original Russian: “Документ утвержден Святейшим Патриархом Московским и всея Руси Кириллом.” ↩

5. Original Russian: “Церковь не может одобрить медицинские процедуры, связанные с использованием человеческих эмбриональных клеток или тканей плода, полученных в результате аборта.” ↩

6. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew urged vaccination and said it is “completely absurd” to fear the vaccine, calling resisters “not thinking rationally.” https://greekcitytimes.com/2021/08/28/patriarch-bartholomew-vaccinated/ ↩

7. Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), July 2021. Stated that unvaccinated persons who transmit COVID to someone who dies must “repent for the rest of their lives.” https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/07/05/vaccinate-or-repent-forever-russian-orthodox-church-warns-a74430 ↩

8. Archbishop Elpidophoros implemented single-use spoons across the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. See “Ecumenical Patriarchate Acts on Mode of Distribution of Holy Communion,” https://www.goarch.org/-/ecumenical-patriarchate-acts-on-mode-of-distribution-of-holy-communion ↩

9. Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos was the first Greek hierarch vaccinated (December 27, 2020) to encourage vaccination. https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/12/28/metropolitan-nafpaktos-coronavirus/ ↩

10. Holy Eparchial Synod of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, September 2021. Stated “there is no exemption in the Orthodox Church for Her faithful from any vaccination for religious reasons” and forbade clergy from issuing exemption letters. https://www.goarch.org/-/vaccine-statement ↩

11. Inter-Council Presence of the Moscow Patriarchate, “Vaccination: Ethical Aspects in Light of Orthodox Teaching,” May 20, 2021. Called opposition to vaccination “inadmissible and sinful.” https://mospat.ru/ru/news/87045/ ↩

12. Bishop Pankraty, Abbot of Valaam Monastery, mandated COVID vaccination for all monks and workers, with refusal resulting in dismissal. https://orthochristian.com/140128.html ↩

13. Fr. Cyril Hovorun, “COVID-19 and Christian (?) Dualism,” Public Orthodoxy, March 23, 2020. Argued that believing the Eucharist cannot transmit disease is “Docetism” and “Manichaeism.” https://publicorthodoxy.org/2020/03/23/covid-19-and-dualism/ ↩

14. Fr. Nicholas Dassouras, “From One Spoon to Many,” Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, 2020. Advocated multiple communion spoons as “the only sensible choice.” https://www.goarch.org/-/one-spoon-to-many ↩

15. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick, “To Speak of Thy Mystery: Communing Amid COVID-19,” Ancient Faith, June 9, 2020. Defended bishops’ authority and refused to judge clergy implementing COVID measures. https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/orthodoxyandheterodoxy/2020/06/09/to-speak-of-thy-mystery-communing-amid-covid-19/ ↩

16. Rev. Bohdan Hladio, “Community or ‘Comspoonity’?” Public Orthodoxy, December 11, 2020. Defended multiple communion spoons as a “reasonable pastoral response.” https://publicorthodoxy.org/2020/12/11/community-or-comspoonity/ ↩

17. Seraphim Hamilton, comment on Fr. Damick’s article, June 28, 2020. Called traditional Orthodox “sectarian” for their COVID positions. See comments at the above URL. ↩

18. TheoriaTV, “Fr. Peter Heers, Orthodox Ethos, and the Sectarian Mindset,” Substack, November 2022. Defended episcopal authority against those who criticized bishops during COVID. https://theoriatv.substack.com/p/fr-peter-heers-orthodox-ethos-and ↩

19. John Catsimatidis and Michael Psaros, “Statement on Archiepiscopal Response to Global Pandemic,” praised multiple spoons as “an effective and pastoral response.” https://www.archons.org/-/catsimatidis-and-psaros-statement ↩

20. Fordham’s Orthodox Christian Studies Center operates Public Orthodoxy, which published numerous articles defending COVID measures. https://publicorthodoxy.org/ ↩

21. Dr. Sarah Riccardi-Swartz, “The Conspiratorial Cleric,” Public Orthodoxy, July 19, 2023. Attacked Fr. Peter Heers and traditional Orthodox COVID positions as “conspiratorial” and “reactionary.” https://publicorthodoxy.org/2023/07/19/the-conspiratorial-cleric/ ↩

22. Dr. Cassandra Oehler, “Covid-19 Vaccine: Answers for Orthodox Christians,” Ancient Faith Today, August 30, 2021. Promoted COVID vaccination. https://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/aftodaylive/covid_19_vaccine_answers_for_orthodox_christians ↩

23. Drs. Catherine Creticos, Hermina Nedelescu, and Gayle Woloschak, “Which Vaccine Should I Receive?” Public Orthodoxy / Orthodox Theological Society in America, March 2, 2021. Argued COVID vaccines with fetal cell lines are ethically permissible. https://publicorthodoxy.org/2021/03/02/which-vaccine-should-i-receive/ ↩