Name: COVID-19 outbreak at Portsmouth Greek church may be linked to shared chalice, spoon
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COVID-19 outbreak at Portsmouth Greek church may be linked to shared chalice, spoon

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Hadley Barndollarhbarndollar@seacoastonline.comView CommentsPORTSMOUTH — The state Division of Public Health is working with the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church to “manage and control” a COVID-19 outbreak among its parishioners, according to a recent letter from the attorney general’s office.The Greek Orthodox practice of using a single, shared chalice and spoon “appears to be a source” of the outbreak, wrote Associate Attorney General Anne Edwards on Sept. 25 to the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston, which oversees the Portsmouth church along with more than 60 others across New England.St. Nicholas – known for its annual Greek Festival, which has taken place for 45 years – is at 40 Andrew Jarvis Drive next to Portsmouth High School.Use of the chalice and shared spoon, Edwards warned in her letter, is in violation of one of the state’s active COVID-19 emergency orders. Edwards said the church was informed of the violation July 25 by Portsmouth Health Officer Kim McNamara.“However, the practice seems to have continued,” she wrote.McNamara did not return a request for comment Thursday. It was not immediately known how many positive cases are linked to the outbreak.The National Herald, a weekly newspaper based in New York City focusing on the Greek-American community, that at least six congregants had contracted the virus. The newspaper also reported that Father Robert Archon, who was a priest at St. Nicholas for 10 years, departed from the church in July due to the debate over the single spoon tradition during COVID-19.“Fears, health concerns and even legal recommendations do not change our 2,000-year church tradition,” Archon wrote in his resignation letter obtained and published by the National Herald.SEACOAST CORONAVIRUS NEWS IS FREE:This content is being provided for free as a public service to our readers. to stay informed. Please support local journalism by or by Edwards stated that Gov. Chris Sununu’s emergency order No. 52, specifying guidance for places of worship, “must be complied with.” She said there has been confusion within the Greek Orthodox Church about the orders and their application.The order states that shared cups, serving utensils, books of worship or passing of plates “must be avoided.“ Communion and Eucharist, for example, ”should not involve a shared cup or passing of a plate between people."Edwards said the violations are taken “very seriously” and the provisions have been “instituted so New Hampshire businesses and organizations can operate as safely as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic.”If the church does not come into compliance, further legal enforcement action could be taken, the letter stated.St. Nicholas representatives did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday, and neither did a chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston.On Sept. 12, the church posted on Facebook that “due to unforeseen circumstances,” there would be no liturgy that Sunday. The next day, the church posted, “Let us pray especially for our fellow parishioners who have been diagnosed with COVID.”“By not complying with the emergency orders, organizations risk endangering the health of all individuals involved in the event as well as everyone else who those individuals come into contact with after the event ends,” Edwards wrote.View Comments

Hadley Barndollarhbarndollar@seacoastonline.comView CommentsPORTSMOUTH — The state Division of Public Health is working with the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church to “manage and control” a COVID-19 outbreak among its parishioners, according to a recent letter from the attorney general’s office.The Greek Orthodox practice of using a single, shared chalice and spoon “appears to be a source” of the outbreak, wrote Associate Attorney General Anne Edwards on Sept. 25 to the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston, which oversees the Portsmouth church along with more than 60 others across New...

COVID-19 outbreak at Portsmouth Greek church may be linked to shared chalice, spoon

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