Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine, Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) Epifaniy (Epiphanius) has held Easter holiday service in Kyiv's St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery amid the coronavirus quarantine in Ukraine.
Read alsoEaster celebrations from home should curb COVID-19 spread in Ukraine – health minister
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine and media representatives this year arranged an online broadcast of the Easter Liturgy over the spread of the novel COVID-19 coronavirus across the country.
"We unite in prayer, and may the Lord's blessing be upon us all. Be in peace, hope and love," Epifaniy said.
The service lasted more than three hours without the direct participation of the parishioners, due to quarantine restrictions.
As UNIAN reported earlier, this year, Ukrainian authorities and the church urged Ukrainian citizens to comply with the quarantine and stay at home on Easter holidays over to the coronavirus pandemic.
On Thursday, Metropolitan Epifaniy and Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) Sviatoslav called on believers to celebrate Easter at home and not expose themselves and relatives to danger.
"Of course, we will celebrate the Resurrection of Christ under special conditions. But we see that our believers have responded to the church's call to stay at home. At the latest service in Kyiv's St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, we saw that people responded to our call and are joining prayers online," Epifaniy said.
"We asked all our believers to celebrate this Easter at home. And we will be able to rejoice this Easter together but without endangering your health and life. Therefore, we will pray together, pray online. We will bless Easter baskets while you're home," Sviatoslav added.
