GOC cleric acquitted for liturgy during COVID: Greece has rid itself of shame

Presbyter Anastasios Gotsopoulos at the courthouse. Photo: eeod.gr

On January 13, 2025, Father Anastasios Gotsopoulos, acquitted by a Greek court for conducting a Divine Liturgy during COVID-19 restrictions, issued a statement expressing gratitude for the court's decision and sharing his thoughts on the Greek UOJ website.

"Today, the Greek judicial system has deprived me of the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a priest: being convicted for fulfilling his priestly and pastoral duty while remaining faithful to his conscience, his flock, and God," he declared.

Father Anastasios emphasized that the court not only protected him personally but also spared Greece the shame of condemning an Orthodox priest for celebrating the Liturgy on the Feast of the Annunciation.

"The Greek judicial system, through its acquittal, refused to enforce an excessive, illogical, ineffective, unconstitutional, and, above all, blasphemous government decree that prohibited not only gatherings of the faithful in churches but even the Divine Liturgy itself, including in monasteries and on Mount Athos, during the Great Lent of 2020," he said.

He reminded that similar laws existed in Europe before 311 AD during the reign of Diocletian and in Albania under Enver Hoxha. Even figures like Mehmed the Conqueror, Lenin, or Stalin did not dare to take such extreme measures as banning the Liturgy.

As an Orthodox Christian and priest, Father Anastasios said he could not accept a ban on celebrating the Liturgy: "I was obliged to follow Christ's command: 'Do this in remembrance of Me,' without seeking permission from Caesar."

The priest also expressed gratitude to his lawyers, Georgios Iatrou and Ioannis Hadziantonios, for convincingly demonstrating the unconstitutionality of the restrictions.

He thanked the defense witness, Protopresbyter and doctor Evangelos Papanikolaou, who, in his scientifically substantiated testimony, emphasized that neither conducting the Liturgy nor communing the faithful posed any threat to public health.

Father Anastasios extended special thanks to the faithful, monks, and clerics who supported him in court, as well as to everyone who sent messages of support from across Greece and the world.

Concluding his statement, the priest quoted the ancient Greek orator Lysias, addressing the journalist who filed the complaint against him: "I am almost grateful to my accuser for providing me with this trial, which for me as a priest is the highest honor."

Previously, the UOJ reported that a Greek court acquitted a priest who served the Liturgy during COVID.

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