A group of Orthodox worshippers gathers in a remote monastery in northern Greece to hear an abbot tell a blunt truth: Covid-19 vaccines are ‘the mark of the Antichrist’. Vaccine skepticism is widespread in the country’s north, where clerics and monks play a key role in the lives of their followers, often serving as personal confessors.
At the beginning of this month, dozens gathered to celebrate the name day of Abbot Maximos in the monastery outside the village of Milochori, west of the nearest town of Ptolemaida. The 88-year-old abbot used the opportunity to reinforce his anti-vaccine message during a simple buffet. ‘In the end, only 1,000 people will escape it,’ he warned. His words carried great weight among those present. ‘Abbot Maximos has been in this monastery for 50 years. He is a holy man,’ said Evangelia, a trained geologist in her 60s.
‘He has been my confessor for over 40 years and I closely follow his advice. He set me on the path of the Lord,’ she told AFP. At the start of the pandemic, most monasteries were under the control of the powerful Greek Orthodox Church, which was reluctant to encourage the faithful to abide by anti-Covid measures.
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