The bahalo at the funeral of an elderly man who died from a coronation caused concern and upset. Initially, there was talk of the priest refusing to perform the funeral, something he denies, speaking to SIGMA, noting that everything he did was based on health protocols.
The competent bodies are trying to find the tip in the case of the funeral of an elderly man by a priest, in the village of Agridia in the province of Limassol.
The case came to light from a publication of Phileleftheros and caused intense concern and upset to the residents of the community of Agridia in the province of Limassol.
According to the information that came to light, the priest did not hold the funeral of a fellow villager, citing a decree of the Ministry of Health. The priest, as he claims, acted on instructions he received from the Limassol Diocese, while he invoked a decree stating that funerals are forbidden inside the temple of persons who died of coronavirus.
The priest of the community contacted by SIGMA claimed that based on the information he received, there are two small churches in Limassol specifically for the funeral of people with coronavirus. Then the relevant disinfection is done.
He noted that based on instructions from the metropolis from last March, the funeral should take place in these two churches and then the body should be transported to the cemetery where the deceased will be buried.
"We can not put the dead in the church as then we will want disinfection in the two churches after each funeral the place is disinfected… I contacted the Limassol Diocese where I was told that there are two churches in Limassol for this purpose and that it should not enter in the church of the big village because it has a law.
I did not refuse to perform the funeral .. I had never performed a funeral before in the past; "My side was the funeral to be held in one of the 2 chapels of my community to make it easier to disinfect it," said Father Christos Vassiliou.
The funeral of the elderly man was finally performed by Archimandrite Kyprianos Aperos in Agros, without any problems.
The Metropolitan of Limassol Athanasios stated that he was not aware of the case, emphasizing that unfortunately there is a decree from the Ministry of Health from the first phase of the pandemic, not to hold the funeral inside the sanctuary. He also said that this is an older order and the priest may have kept this order. The new decree, however, does not prohibit the burial of persons who died in Koronio, but it is enough to observe the relevant protocols.
The Ministry of Health, for its part, stated that no decree issued to date mentions a ban on holding a funeral in a sacred temple of a person who passed away Covid-19.