CNN: Georgia's defiant Orthodox plans Easter celebrations that public health officials say could prove deadly

At first glance, the republic of Georgia has been a success story in the fight against the novel coronavirus, but Georgia now faces a serious test. Easter will be celebrated this Sunday on the Eastern Christian calendar, and the powerful Georgian Orthodox Church is planning major celebrations that public health officials say could prove deadly, reads an article published by CNN.

The article titled as “Georgia's defiant Orthodox church will host Easter worshipers despite lockdown” concerns the measures taken by the authorities against the epidemic and the disobedience of the Georgian Church. “The Georgian Orthodox church has largely refused to heed the pleas of public health officials, who have urged people to stay home. Churches across Georgia have remained open and continued to hold ceremonies, a move that experts say could prove disastrous.

This past Sunday, thousands gathered in churches across the country to mark Palm Sunday on the Orthodox calendar. The services were an explicit breach of the lockdown decreed by authorities on March 30, which included a ban on gatherings of more than three people.

The tradition-bound church has so far refused to adapt communion rites to counter epidemiological concerns. Worshippers line up at the end of each service to receive the sacrament of communion from the same communal spoon”, reads the article.

"The spoon is often not even washed" between uses, Salome Kandelaki, a project coordinator at the Georgian Institute of Politics who researches religion in Georgia, told CNN.

According to the article, the Georgian church's insistence is all the more remarkable for the measures other Eastern Orthodox churches have taken. The Russian Orthodox Church has officially urged worshipers to stay at home, although some churches continue to hold services. The Church of Greece decided to suspend mass as of March 16.