Moscow also enters Phase-2. Theological and apocalyptic hypotheses on the virus

Solidarity with Patriarch Kirill on his name day. The problem of the use of the choir in the liturgy. Metropolitan Ilarion: There is perhaps a biological and bio-psychological warfare to control people. Bishop Irinej of Orsk: The epidemic is one of the signs of the advent of the Antichrist. Four Sisters of Mother Teresa infected with the coronavirus.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - Albeit slowly, Russia is beginning to glimpse the end of the acute phase of the pandemic, even if the numbers are still worrying: in the last 24 hours 8915 cases of Covid-19 have been detected in 83 of the 89 regions of the Federation Russian, of which almost 3 thousand in Moscow alone, with 174 deaths (in total since March almost 4 thousand dead people). The regional authorities, to which Putin has delegated almost all responsibility, are gradually beginning to remove restrictive locakdown measures.

Even the Orthodox Church, particularly affected by the epidemic, is drawing a few breaths of relief, starting to allow celebrations in many churches, calming the wrath of the many Orthodox "denialists". Patriarch Kirill (Gundjaev), who had remained almost completely isolated in his residence in Peredelkino in recent weeks, presided on May 25 the online meeting of the Patriarchal Committee for the fight against coronavirus, signalling a reopening in step with government and regional decrees.

The previous day, May 24, the solemn celebrations of Saints Cyril and Methodius, "Teachers of the Slavs", to which the civil feast is also linked, under the name of "Day of Slavic writing and culture". Being also the patriarch's name day, all members of the Synod sent warm wishes to the patriarch, expressing solidarity with his sufferings for this difficult period, but also thanking him for how he "guides our ecclesial spacecraft, and we believe that the wind will lift and the waves of the stormy sea will soon calm”.

The most authoritative member of the Synod, Metropolitan Ilarion (Alfeev), has advanced worrying interpretations on the period we are living: “There is, alongside the hypotheses of biological warfare, also the possibility of a bio-psychological warfare, when trying to instill fear in the population, to control it in a more radical way ", Ilarion told the Rossija-24 TV channel. He therefore called for the development of "strong immunity not only physically, but also spiritually, in the strength of mind".

Another Orthodox bishop, Irinej (Tafunja) of Orsk, published on the diocesan website an evaluation text on "Eschatological coronavirus epidemic", in which Covid-19 is considered one of the signs of the advent of the Antichrist : “After the 666 tax codes, credit cards, e-money and other similar things, today we see with the excuse of the virus another step towards total control of every individual. In the controlled data the economic and social life of each person will be decided, without it, it will not be possible to live. Probably the next measure will be the installation of a chip directly under the skin, to check not only the health, but also the emotions and actions of the people ".

One of the most discussed issues for the reopening of Orthodox churches for celebrations concerns the composition of the liturgical choirs. The Orthodox Church is in fact a "singing" Church: the liturgies are always sung by the celebrants and the choir, in the name of the people. The problem is that each choir inevitably involves a dangerous "gathering", in fact not being able to respect the distancing measures. The chorus is also an "exchange of breaths", that is, the most dangerous from an infectious point of view. For the moment, the trend is to restore monotonic melodies, which date back to the most ancient strata of the Orthodox liturgy.

In the meantime, a small "denialist" scandal has also occurred in Moscow in the Catholic field: the large community of Missionaries of Charity of Mother Teresa, which works in the suburbs of Moscow with disabled children, reportedly failed to respect the rules of isolation in principle, with a result that 4 of the 10 nuns contracted Coronavirus together with several volunteers, and even some of the children staying at the facility. The nuns also continue to provide assistance to the homeless on the streets of Moscow, regardless of the epidemic.

• russia
• economy
• religious freedom
• covid-19
• pandemic
• quarantine
• russian orthodox church
• saint sergio monastery
• vladimir putin
• kirill gundjaev
• ilarion alfeev
• antichrist