A criminal complaint has been filed against Archbishop of Tomis, Teodosie after the Epiphany mass attended by over 3,000 people.
The archbishop is charged with foiling disease prevention. The complaint has been filed at Constanta Police Inspectorate and the file has been sent to the Prosecutor’s Office upon Constanta Court of Appeal.
At least 3,000 people attended the Epiphany mass officiated by Teodosie and a group of 20 priests, many of them breaking the social distancing rules, crammed shoulder to shoulder for almost two hours. Most of them were wearing face masks.
Archbishop Teodosie, known for his contestant attitude during the pandemic, had called on 10,000 people to come to attend the Epiphany mass.
Upon leaving to the Tomis Port, Teodosie told the crowd to keep the social distancing “to not upset authorities”.
In retort to the criminal complaint, the Tomis Archdiocese said in a Facebook post that the complaint is unfounded and that Archbishop Teodosie is not responsible if the believers wear face masks or not or if they keep social distancing.
Teodosie also officiated the Christmas service, with many attendees although the city of Constanta was in lockdown and indoor religious services were banned.
The Epiphany Day is one of the most important religious holidays both for Orthodox and Catholic Christians. Romanian Christians celebrate the Epiphany, ‘Boboteaza’ on January 6, the day Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River.