The Metropolitan of Corfu, Paxi and the Diapontian isles, His Eminence Nektarios, spoke to the Orthodoxia News Agency on Wednesday, a day after he was fully acquitted by a Corfu first instance court of two misdemeanor charges of violating state-mandated restrictions to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
In statements to reporter Nikolaos Zaimis, His Eminence expressed thanks to God, relief and responsibility towards his flock.
The brief trial on the Ionian island was held with the presence of numerous faithful and clerics, who expressed their support and solidarity to the hierarch.
The Metropolitan had been charged with two misdemeanor counts of allegedly violating public health restrictions. Those restrictions were issued last spring at the beginning of the pandemic in Greece.
A local prosecutor had taken exception to the Metropolitan’s sermon on the March 25 national holiday, where the former called on the faithful to attend their churches and partake in the Holy Communion. The prosecutor had also discerned a violation with the holding of a litany of the holy relics of St. Spyridonas — within the Metropolitan Cathedral on Palm Sunday.
After his acquittal, the Metropolitan of Corfu worshipped before the holy relics of St. Spyridonas at the eponymous cathedral, dedicated to the saint, expressing his tearful gratitude and supplication.
