Ukrainian cleric of RCC claims Christ could be infected with coronavirus

Cleric of the RCC from Kyiv Peter Balog. Photo:birdinflight.com

Catholic priest Peter Balog, Director of the St. Thomas Aquinas Institute of Religious Sciences in Kyiv, believes that Jesus Christ could catch a coronavirus. He reported this to the Bird in flight publication.

In his opinion, “Christians are primarily people and only then Christians. They must adhere to all universal norms. If we put ourselves above what is human in us, this will lead to nothing but pride. If Jesus Christ lived now, these norms would apply to Him as a real and true person, incarnate God.”

“I believe that Christ could become infected with the coronavirus. Many do not agree with this, there have been heated discussions on whether Christ can be afflicted or not, but these are the remnants of Monophysitism – to assert that Christ is only God and therefore cannot get an illness. But he is the God-Man, i.e. completely divine and human – not partially, not a little, not conventionally, but completely: with His birth, growth, illness and death. The Holy Scripture says that he suffered, which is a shortcoming of the human flesh to experience pain,” the priest of the RCC upheld his opinion.

He said that in making decisions during the lockdown, the clergy of the RCC relies "on various instructions of the church hierarchy, episcopate. They followed immediately: what to do, how to do, how to celebrate." "It’s also worth drawing on common sense, humility," he added.

“We live in the 21st century and know how diseases are transmitted. We remember this when we perform worship one on one, when we confess, administer the Holy Communion, and the like. It's not about the fact that the Communion itself can infect someone, but only about what we can accept simultaneously with the Communion. It is worth being careful in order not to infect someone through religious practices. I'm not even speaking about other things: kissing icons, crosses, shrines. We are not conveying the peace sign now but bowing like people in the Far East,” said Peter Balog.

As reported by the UOJ, churches of the RCC in Switzerland send the Holy Gifts to parishioners in matchboxes.

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