The Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, His Beatitude Ieronymos, was admitted to a central Athens hospital early Thursday morning, after being diagnosed with Covid-19.
As a strict precaution, His Beatitude is being treated in the Evangelismos hospital’s ICU, where he is also undergoing medical tests.
The Archbishop, who was previously diagnosed negative with both rapid and molecular tests after the conclusion of last week’s Standing Holy Synod sessions, was subsequently diagnosed positive during a scheduled molecular test on Monday evening.
In a statement to close associates shortly before his hospital admission, Ieronymos noted that “…I will personally participate, as a shepherd, in an ordeal that concerns thousands of our brothers, in our country, and millions throughout the world. I share in the agony and pain and fear of all, yet with our Faith in God, we will all persevere”.
Messages of support, speedy recovery pour in
Immediate messages of support and best wishes for the Archbishop poured in, with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis personally contacting the hierarch.
In a separate statement, Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas said Archbishop Ieronymos met with Mitsotakis on Saturday, and after a Covid-19 test was administered before the meeting. That test was negative for both the Greek Prime Minister and the Archbishop. Mitsotakis underwent another test before his departure for the United Arab Emirates, which was also negative, the spokesman said.
In his message of sympathy, the Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, His Most Divine Beatitude Theodore II, wished the Archbishop a speedy recovery and a quick return to his esteemed duties.
In part, the letter reads “….I would like to contact you in order to express my heartfelt personal wishes and supplications, so that The only Physician of our souls and bodies, our Lord Jesus Christ, Whom you serve with so much self-sacrifice and devotion, renders a speedy recovery of Your precious health, so that we may see you again quickly in Your high duties, healthy and strong, as always.”
In a related development, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, His All-Holiness Bartholomew I, spoke by phone on Wednesday with the head of the Greek government’s Covid-19 experts committee, epidemiology professor Sotiris Tsiodras.
According to the reports from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, His All-Holiness and Prof. Tsiodras exchanged thoughts and information about the spread of pandemic.
The Ecumenical Patriarch had spoken the previous day with Greek Premier Mitsotakis.