“True Christian takes the jab”, Russian priest says

That is the vision of the Russian priest Vladimir Duhovich, a central figure in the church in the struggle against Covid-19. “A true Christian should not refuse vaccination without medical indications”, Duhovich said in an interview to Ria Novosti.

Wrong to force people

Duhovich also is a biologist and is head of a synodal group to overcome the consequences of the corona pandemic for the Russian Orthodox Church. He thinks that it is wrong to force people with a vaccination. “But if a person refuses to be vaccinated for personal reasons, then, despite the weight of his arguments, he endangers his neighbours”, the priest said.

He reminded that the neighbours for a Christian are all the people who surround him. “A Christian is responsible for his neighbour and should bring him good, not evil.”

If you do not want to be vaccinated, please don’t have much contact with other people, says the priest. “But this is not an offer to lock oneself in an apartment; it is necessary to go to the store, to medical institutions, and to work.”

In the interview, Duhovich adds that he thinks it is wrong to block people from entering the church if they do have not the correct QR code. “I do not think it right to prohibit the unvaccinated from attending the temple”, the priest explains. “We must distinguish necessity from entertainment. From my point of view, visiting temples does not belong to “optional events”. Visiting a temple is the same as work or a hospital, not a cinema or a stadium. Moreover, visiting the house of God and participating in the Sacraments is absolutely necessary for an Orthodox Christian.”

Warning against misinformation

The Russian church has always been in favour of vaccination. Before Christmas, Patriarch Kirill warned against misinformation about the corona vaccination. Some Christians see the jab as the “mark of the Antichrist”, but the head of the Russian church finds that misleading.