Orthodox doctor: Assumptions about Eucharist transmitting virus are profane
The vice president of the medical laboratory and the wife of an Orthodox priest from US answered the question if the Holy Communion can cause the spread of coronavirus.
Thoughts about the possibility of transmitting coronavirus through the Eucharist are blasphemous, a member of the Church Council of the temple in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “Life-Giving Spring” in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, USA), vice president of Accu Reference Medical Laboratory in New Jersey and wife of the Orthodox priest Victoria Lavreneva-Gulina said in a commentary to the FOMA in Ukraine website.
“The Body and Blood of Christ can by no means become a source of the spread of the virus,” said the Orthodox health professional. “The Holy Communion does not just symbolize but is the real Body and Blood of the Lord, therefore the assumptions about the likelihood of transmitting the coronavirus through the Eucharist are blasphemous. The Eucharist cannot be defiled by anyone or anything.”
In her opinion, throughout the centuries-long experience of Christianity, there has been no evidence of transmitting the virus through the Eucharist.
“Priests, who would serve in infectious diseases hospitals and give the Holy Gifts to their patients, consumed the remainder of the Divine Communion themselves, using the same communion spoon. Not a single priest was infected in these cases,” she emphasized, wishing believers to stay calm, observe hygiene rules and earnestly pray to God.
As reported by the UOJ, on March 18, 2020, the Holy Synod of UOC published an Address to the flock in connection with the coronavirus.
