Apophatic love, contagion, and surveillance: Orthodox Christian responses to the global pandemic

Abstract

As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Orthodox Christians globally reacted to the possibility of contagion and risk in dialogue with theological positions about materials, their own long history which includes surviving previous pandemics and plagues, governmental and civil expectations and edicts, and pious -but often unofficial -understandings about protection and the sacrality of religious artefacts and the space of the temple. This article draws upon primary ethnographic research amongst Orthodox Christians in the UK, Serbia, Greece and Russia, as well as news articles about and primary ecclesiastical documents from Orthodox Churches more widely, to highlight commonalities and divergences in Orthodox Christian responses to the pandemic. Examining both the theological basis, and socio-political differences, this article considers how the Orthodox theology of apophaticism and relationality impacts wider discourses of contagion (both positive and negative), and consequently compliance with public health initiatives. Comparison across diverse Orthodox settings suggests that Orthodox Christians are concerned with the neighbour -both in terms of who may be watching (and reporting) them, and who may fall sick because of them.Orthodox Christianity is a 'tactile and sensual religion' (Dubisch 1995:61), wherein the bodily engagement of the faithful is an aspect within every part of religious practice. The touching of icons and relics as well as bodily practices such as prostrations or the kissing of the priest's hand are highly normative aspects of public devotion. Orthodox temples are filled with icons, and large temples, or those in city centres, often have cleaning regimes in place to wipe the lipstick smudges from prominent icons. Relics, often the bodily remains of saints, are also common in Orthodox monasteries, parishes and, in some cases, homes. Particularly important relics -either because of their reputation for performing miracles, or because of the popularity of the saint -are often taken on tours, making it easier for the faithful in foreign countries to pay pilgrimage to these great saints and venerate them.For example, in March 2020, the right arm of St George the Victory-Bearer made a tour of Great Britain. On his tour, he came to visit a small Greek parish in northeast London. St George was accompanied by four monks from the monastery of Xenophontos, on Mt Athos in Greece, and after visiting parishes in Scotland and northern England, they visited two parishes in London. They arrived in the afternoon, and the parish was opened for people

Recognizing vaccine wastage in Georgia

“…Similar stances were not taken by many individual priests and bishops who expressed their strongly negative attitude toward COVID‐19 vaccines, while other Orthodox primates such as the Ecumenical Patriarch called on people to get vaccinated to protect their own and others’ lives. Overall, the environment observed in Georgia in this regard strongly resembled that of other Eastern Orthodox societies in countries like Romania, Greece, or Russia [ 9 ].…”