By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou
February 2020
With the emergence of the so-called coronavirus (covid-19), some other viruses have appeared, such as those of panic, fear, illness, and I wanted to put forward also the virus of the fear of death. In essence the fear of death is a state that causes both general fear and panic.
Man was created to live for eternity, but sin caused death. God is not the cause of death, but man through his free choice. Since then, death is a reality that plagues the human being, and from there originates both the fear of death and also the panic of death.
Thus, death is a perverse reality, the greatest democrat, as my Elder the Metropolitan Kallinikos of Edessa said, meaning that it does not make any distinctions between anyone. Humans die in all ages, from infants to their old age. Few are those who exceed a hundred years of age.
Causes of death are varied, from diseases, to various viruses, to issues with the different organs of the body, and problems with old age. The illnesses vary. People think they will live forever, but the longer one lives the danger increases that they will suffer from diseases of old age, such as dementia, alzheimer's, etc.
Subsequently, on a daily basis, there is an increased risk of death by asphalt, namely traffic accidents, which exceed deaths from various diseases, and there is an increased risk of deaths by suicide as well. Wars continue throughout the continents that result in death, and hunger is a reaper.
Further, the most terrifying thing is that people kill their fellow humans. Thirty-thousand embryos are killed from abortions a year, which take place under the law, almost the size of a big city, and "civilized" people are not moved a bit, but they are possessed by panic over the coronavirus! Isn't this a high-level of hypocrisy?
However, the virus of the fear of death is what creates social and spiritual problems, and makes people unhappy. It fills them with many psychological, existential and social panics, but it is the fear of death which is at the basis of all the underlying states, such as the love of glory, love of pleasure and love of money.
Of course, we must take all the necessary measures, in accordance with the decisions of the Holy Synod of our Church, without diverging from the Bishops and Clergy. But ultimately we must believe in God and overcome the fear of death.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.