COVID-19 and Obedience to the Bishop
“For a bishop, as God’s steward, must be blameless…he must hold firm to the sure word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to confute those who contradict it.”
There has been a controversy among Orthodox Christians during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Should our parishes close in order to prevent the virus from spreading further? Or should they stay open to administer the sacraments to the faithful Orthodox who need them? This situation has made many Orthodox very upset, regardless of what each one’s bishop may or may not have decided. If the bishop closes his parishes, he is accused of being a coward who does not believe in the salvific power of the sacraments. If the bishop keeps his parishes open, he is accused of endangering the public and failing to save lives. This is truly a lose-lose situation for our hierarchs.
I do not at all feel comfortable publicly adding my personal opinion to the onslaught of commenters on this issue. However, I do feel comfortable referring my fellow Orthodox Christians to who is able to give answers to these questions: their local bishop. Each Orthodox bishop is in a direct line of succession from the apostles themselves, who in turn had their authority given to them directly by Christ. It follows, therefore, that to obey the bishop is to be obedient to Christ, and to disobey your bishop is to disobey Christ. This is very much in line with what Jesus said to his apostles during his earthly ministry: “He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” (Luke 10:16). Applying this to our current crisis, the correct thing for each Orthodox Christian to do is whatever their bishop tells them to do. Though we are permitted to have our own personal opinions on the matter, we are not permitted to disregard our bishop’s instructions and set up ourselves as a higher authority than him.
The authority of one’s local bishop has been understood since the earliest days of Christianity, being mentioned as early as the late first century by St. Ignatius of Antioch. He had the following words on the matter:
“Wherefore it is fitting that ye should run together in accordance with the will of your bishop, which thing also ye do. For your justly renowned presbytery, worthy of God, is fitted as exactly to the bishop as the strings are to the harp. Therefore in your concord and harmonious love, Jesus Christ is sung. And do ye, man by man, become a choir, that being harmonious in love, and taking up the song of God in unison, ye may with one voice sing to the Father through Jesus Christ, so that He may both hear you, and perceive by your works that ye are indeed the members of His Son. It is profitable, therefore, that you should live in an unblameable unity, that thus ye may always enjoy communion with God…Let us be careful, then, not to set ourselves in opposition to the bishop, in order that we may be subject to God. ”
In Ignatius’ view, being subject to the bishop is identical to being subject to God. He also believes in the contrapositive of the same statement: not being subject to the bishop means not being subject to God, and indeed is a mockery of God:
“It is therefore fitting that you should, after no hypocritical fashion, obey [your bishop], in honor of Him who has willed us [so to do], since he that does not so deceives not [by such conduct] the bishop that is visible, but seeks to mock Him that is invisible. And all such conduct has reference not to man, but to God, who knows all secrets.”
It is fitting for us to take Ignatius’ advice and be obedient to our bishops during this time of uncertainty and crisis. May God grant us the grace to be obedient through the prayers of our hierarchs!
