I clearly need to let my readers know that I believe the Covid-19 virus is real, and that I believe each of us has a duty to protect ourselves and our fellow human beings generally speaking.
But I also believe that the greatest danger facing our world is not the coronavirus as from those who manage the coronavirus, who have as their aim the citizens’ coherence, and compliance with their laws.
It has now been eight whole months since we have been barred from our normal cultural, spiritual, and social interaction with the greater community. We’ve witnessed our local and state governments bar us from worshiping in our churches, and gather together with our family and friends. We’ve witnessed the closure of our restaurants, and the boarding up of hundreds of businesses in our cities, all the while bombarding us with fear mongering propaganda that has turned a relatively low death rate into something far beyond reality.
Many of us have seen this as a systematic dechristianization of our nation, all the while witnessing the silencing of differing views, all in the name of “science” and political correctness. We’ve allowed decisions to be made by people whose personal fortune has grown in immeasurable speed, while the fortune of average people has plummeted to depression era lows.
Unfortunately, those people who are in powerful political positions have been allowed to make decisions that will have an impact far beyond the end of this pandemic. Their decisions, and those who see to the application of these decisions, will survive long after the pandemic has abated, and our nation will have paid the ultimate price.
It would seem to me that we people should wake up, to arouse the conscience of our national leadership. These “protectors” have managed to convey the message and the impression that church is a “restaurant” that transmits diseases, and we’ve allowed them to bar our people from the Life-giving Mysteries that bring us healing of both body and soul.
Although it is the duty of we Christians to protect ourselves and to protect our fellow human beings from this airborne virus, we are derelict in our duty if we do not speak out of the importance of Christian worship, and demand our First Amendment right, that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
If we Christians act as though this pandemic will bring about death to everyone, we will have contributed to a worse death, that of the death of the soul. The Church is NOT a restaurant, and we should not allow civil authorities to treat it as such. As an essential institution, our ultimate health, both body and soul, will only be found in the Church.
I believe we are not in danger so much from the coronavirus as from those who manage the coronavirus, those who have as their aim the citizens’ coherence, and compliance with their laws. And I say all of this not from passion or anger, but from pain and agony.
That said, “What I see around me would drive me insane if I did not know that no matter what happens, God will have the last word (Saint Paisios of Athos).”
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Friday December 4, 2020 / November 21, 2020
26th Week after Pentecost. Tone eight.
Fast. Fish Allowed
The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple.
Venerable Columbanus of Bobbio, abbot and founder of Luxeuil Abbey (Gaul) (615) (Celtic & British).
New Martyrs Priest Alexander Khotovitsky of New York (1937), and Priest Alexis Benemansky of Tver (1937).
Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Everlasting Hope”.
The Scripture Readings
Luke 1:39-49
Mary Visits Elizabeth
39 Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, 40 and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”
The Song of Mary
46 And Mary said:
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
Luke 1:56
56 And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her house.
Hebrews 9:1-7
The Earthly Sanctuary
9 Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; 3 and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, 4 which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; 5 and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
Limitations of the Earthly Service
6 Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. 7 But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance;
Luke 10:38-42
Mary and Martha Worship and Serve
38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”
41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 11:27-28
Keeping the Word
27 And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!”
28 But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
In Washington state there has been a total blackout of the amount of interference of the balloting overseeing done each of the counties in comparison to the Georgia, Pennsylvania , Michigan and Wisconsin election board proceedings. I know the back half of Pierce is heavily Republican as compared to Tacoma. What happened?
Your Grace,
Excellent commentary on our poor state of affairs and the gross movement of our secular government towards population control. I too acknowledge the reality of the virus but struggle deeply and am conflicted with the politicians responses. God bless you and the clarity in this fog that you bring to your flock.
Dan Husaim an Orthodox living in Michigan
Thank you so very much Abbott Tryphon!
Thank you so much dear Father for this! These words are SO needed at this time when in other countries also (like here in Canada) the same policies of lockdown are being used. As you say without the Church….
Spot on Father!
Never before have the Dark Powers weaponized a virus like currently being seen around the world. There IS a battle being waged in the heaven lies as well here on earth between good and evil, dark and light!
May we, the Orthodox Church, continue to be a witness & be a beacon of light to the world! Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me a sinner!
God bless our President, the seemingly few righteous leaders and our military as they stand in the gap for truth and be victorious over the evil global (communist) agenda!
We are being forced into “bad days” by malevolence. The temptation is to retreat into nihilism and madness. Especially when the malevolent ones already think us crazy. However the best protection is the joy of the Lord.
Inn my experience it comes when we accept responsibility for my own sins which are in consenance with the malevolence and repent for them everyday.
Otherwise I risk falling into the arrogance of Adam when God questioned him in the Garden about the sudden chaos. Gen 3:11-12
Adam turned on God and said: ” This woman you gave me….”
God is not the author of the chaos in my heart that has been unleashed on the world.
That being said there is mounting credible evidence that the “cure” being foist on us is either not effective or dangerous or both.
As long as there is chaos in my heart: fear and loathing and suspicion: the pandemic will not end.
Lord have mercy on me and forgive me my sins and bring joy to my heart.
Father Abbott, pray for me and all your children. Pray that our Lord unleash His joy as we turn to Him in contrition
You spoke clarity and light to those of us in a darkened world. Thank you!!
Well said Father, I’m right there with you. What pains me also is that you can take off your mask in a restaurant, not so in my church.
My sentiments exactly, Cynthia.
Would you propose that we congregate without regard that we would be further spreadIng the virus before a vaccine is available? This is just accepting the fact that we will increase infections and on average that approximately 2-2.5 % of those infected will die. Is this acceptable? I’m not talking about fearing death. But should we knowingly further it?
“The CDC itself caused a stir at the end of August by estimating that the virus directly caused only 6 percent, or now just over 11,000 of the 187,000 attributed deaths. Most of these deaths were in the elderly…The remaining 94 percent died with and not exclusively of the coronavirus. These people also were on average elderly and had 2.6 other health problems. This implies a good fraction who succumbed had three or more comorbidities. In other words, most deaths attributed to the coronavirus were in very sick people.” (NY Post, 10/17/20)
So let’s protect the elderly with comorbidities, and allow the rest of us to congregate and worship without fear.
The death rate is less that 0.5. Get it right.
I am so grateful for the few faithful priests we have left who are speaking out about this and where our priority should be (repentance and our souls). Our church has a history of going through pandemics before, much worse than the one we are currently facing, yet they dealt with it in a completely different way. In doing so, they gave us an example to follow. But somehow we believe our government is above the church and have chosen to succumb to their law over the one given to us. May God forgive us and bring us to repentance for our error. Thank you for your couragto speak out even though you are being ridiculed and slandered because of it. May Panagia protect you and give you strength.
My thoughts exactly! (Just much better put.) 🙏☦️❤️
Amen <3 🙂
Nearly 280,000 dead so far and you say ” a relatively low death rate into something far beyond reality.” Seriously, Abbot? What of the multitude that have suffered from infection but didn’t die. What of the tens of thousands of dollars in medical cost to families barely making it because of the gross disparity in wealth? We, especially clergy as leaders, need to care about our brethren and wear a mask, stay home unless an urgent need arises and promote the wearing of masks by all and safe health practice. Condemning civil servants for attempting to limit the death toll is not very Christian.
.01% death rate, nation wide.
What fussy math are you using? By John’s Hopkins it is 1.9%!
As recently reported, the federal department, the Center for Disease Control, checked all of the so-called (reported as) Covid 19 deaths up to that point (some weeks ago) and found that only about 19,000 were actually Covid 19 which put the ‘real’ at somewhere around the 0.01 % as mentioned by Abbot Tryphon below. I personally have many of the conditions that cause one to die by the virus, i.e. 82 years old, elevated blood pressure, and so-called kidney disease, but not obeseand no other modern diseases; I remain in good health, outside a lot in my gardens and taking care of my critters and acreage and ‘very important, eat organic and carefully because of the renal condition; haven’t had a cold in many years and never the flu as far as I know (some colds years ago were pretty bad). My point is, proper diet and sunlight (Vitamin D) are major factors in remaining well. A few months ago, President Trump went to Ohio and before meeting with the president, the governor of the state was tested in the morning for Covid 19 and came up positive with the nasal swab routine; later in the day he was tested with two more advanced tests and came up negative; the nasal swab test has reported elevated pandemic numbers and most of them are not true. The whole thing is a scam, the numbers are not true.
Thank you Abbot Tryphon. Such true words. The most edifying aspect of our lives, the One True Church, has been taken away from us. While the world worry about this life, which is a drop in the ocean, our soul thirst for Christ and The Church which is eternal.
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Thank you for your insightful comments, Abbot Tryphon.
In Christ,
Chuck Calendine
Father, you may get hammered for this post but…. truer words never spoken, Right On!
There are those in authority (specifically certain governors ) drunk on power and just decreeing like a monarch of old draconian measures not based on anything more than political whims. I am shocked in one way and really not in another how easily many just capitulate , acquiesce and roll over to the panic porn measures . I want to yell “get a grip ,folks, this ain’t the Plague!”.
But it is about control.
When does all this nonsense end? When enough say – “ENOUGH!” and stand against impending soft creep of tyranny.
Getting hammered in the modern culture is very common for those who speak the truth. But, not being hammered from heaven by our Lord is the most important factor. Here in California our governor reportedly sent one billion dollars of state funds (without legislative approval) to China for covid masks and six months later no masks have showed up. ??? As you say John, it is all about control; and it is no longer soft or creeping up on us; it is in front our face when we try to figure out what someone is trying to say through what I call, the ‘Mask of the Beast.’ I am extremly hard of hearing and most of the time cannot understand ‘behind the mask’ conversation.
Big smile to ya!, not for your circumstances in Kommiefornia, but I know how frustrating it is as a hard of hearing lip reader straining to understand those clinging to their face diapers like Linus to his blanket.
And your point is all one we should heed:
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” – St. Matthew 10:28
Well said John Thank you 🙂
I do attend services at my Orthodox mission church, but with some trepidation because no one wears masks. I believe you are seriously underplaying this pandemic which has killed 270,000 Americans and now surging dramatically. Do you not see this?
Well, Jeffery, the death rate nationwide remains at about .01%, which speaks for itself.
Death rate is almost at 0.1%. When decimals and percentages both come into play, it gets a little confusing. To clear it up and find how we get to approximately 0.1% of the population having died from COVID19 complications, lets reverse engineer the math starting at 100% and work our way down.
328,000,000 is the population of the USA.
100% of 328,000,000 = 328,000,000
10% of 328,000,000 = 32,800,000
1% of 328,000,000 = 3,280,000
0.1% of 328,000,000 = 328,000
0.01% of 328,000,000 = 32,800
Is there a point at which our Church leadership becomes uncomfortable with the death count to then start following guidelines that medical professionals at hospitals are begging their local populations to follow? When have we lost too many of our elders, bishops, fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, and even sometimes our own children due to death or long term disability due to COVID19? Is that 0.1%? 1%? 10%? Nigh 100%? It seems that the highly esteemed Fr. Nicola became uncomfortable with the deaths occurring in his local church during the 1918 Pandemic and ordered the parishioners to stay home for a time while he delivered them Holy Communion:
http://ww1.antiochian.org/node/25571
“Kearney, Nebraska was not spared this suffering. In the optimistic days of the early twentieth century, the city fathers in Kearney, like many other Nebraskan communities, chose not to abide by the quarantine enacted by state authorities. This was perhaps not unreasonable, since in early autumn of 1918 the city had seen relatively few cases of the Flu and even fewer subsequent deaths. But with citizens freely associating at schools, public places and churches, the Flu would strike in a second, much deadlier wave in mid-October. At that time the city was officially quarantined and school classes, church services and other gatherings were outlawed for the sake of public health.”
“It seems that Fr. Nicola and the faithful of St. George observed this quarantine obediently, and for a few Sundays, as the sickness spread through the town, they all refrained from gathering together for the Liturgy as was their custom. Instead, Fr. Nicola himself “brought the Liturgy” to the homes of the faithful who were suffering and there continued his unflagging service of ministering the Holy Things to Christ’s flock. In this faithful service, Fr. Nicola contracted the Spanish Influenza and after one week of suffering, departed this life on October 29th, 1918. May his memory be eternal!”
At what point did the Russian Orthodox Church decide that its parishioners should stop attending normal church services and go under ground when communism became an increasingly lethal threat to its people? Is it always against God’s will to not go to Church? God allowed both the fall of Russia and this pandemic to occur. He allowed our Church and Eastern See of the Roman Empire to fall under Muslim rule. Orthodoxy survived in part due to Church leadership accommodating their new government authority while maintaining the principles of our faith — which historians would argue preserved our Eastern Faith from the destructive fires of heresy that were inflaming the West.
Having been a soldier and firefighter, I too would bravely be saying “go to Church, the death rate is small” if not for my family and friends that have been SEVERELY impacted by COVID19 health wise — none of which have died but have had a long term, on going major loss to their quality of life and health. It’s one thing for a soldier/General/Senator to say “let’s send our soldiers to the front lines, some losses are expected in war, but we will prevail”. They are fired up for the good fight because they haven’t experienced any losses personally. But doesn’t their tune change once they have seen men and women under their command die or become maimed for life in the saddest of ways?
This pandemic in the U.S. is just beginning to get serious. I think our tune will change.
P.S. This might be an engineered virus. But we know the threat to life and our medical infrastructure is serious. And we know that the worldly powers that be will take full advantage of this to the destruction of our liberties permanently, if they can get away with it. Will part of their argument to limit our liberties indefinitely on a global scale be to point at how us Christians behaved selfishly (in their eyes) by disregarding “science” and “authority” which directly causes the death rate to climb, the economy to plummet, and the health system to crash? 100% yes. If President Trump, the only real president in my lifetime that really loves this country, had rallied his followers to wear masks, we likely wouldn’t see so much suffering. We would likely be recovering much quicker health and economic wise But he didn’t and we are all paying for that now and for years to come (or forever under Biden’s soon-to-be assistance towards the Great Reset). Will we see a similar problem with our religious liberties long term due to a leadership vacuum in our Church concerning COVID19? Whatever happens, it is God’s will, and His will is to save us, just as He wanted to save the Russian people by allowing Communism to take hold, but only for a time.
Looks like the formatting got erased. Sorry for all those numbers mashed together!
The death rate is so low (compared to the US population) that they are resorting to case numbers in order to drum up the fear. They’re getting desperate and their narrative is crumbling.
Case rate is the proper way to look at it. Not fear, common sense. You can’t look at total population.
You nailed it.
Amen!! Thank you Abbot Tryphon!
I agree, Amen, Amen, and Amen, Abbot Tryphon and please say hello to my dear friend, the monk, Father Martin. He will remember me from Point Reyes days.
John
Some of the people making comments need to read C. S. Lewis’s comments about the nuclear bomb. The gist of it is, with all the horrible ways to die in this life, you are freaked out by one more??- I have a secret to reveal, we are all going to die. But why should Christian’s be so afraid? The Bible says over 300 times, do not fear. We are a long way from the martyrs who willingly went to their deaths in Rome. I wish so many would wake up and realize that it is not about a disease. But it is about control. In times past, Christian’s tended to the sick in an epidemic, like smallpox.How can we fear death when we serve so great a Saviour? God is in control, even in the valley of death.
Well said! But what should we do? Unless I’m mistaken, the bishops are complying with state and locals governments and recommendations. I’m not going to attempt a pretense of knowing the minds of the bishops, but if we’re complying with those who are abusing their powers then aren’t we contributing to the problem?
bless reverend father hegumen tryphon:
thank you for your courageous commentary and your pre-election video. i would ask you to remember the carmelite monastic presbyter pastor of saint cecilia roman catholic church, in stanwood washington, who is fighting a losing battle between the masque and non masque factions of his parish. it is sad that it has reached this level of vitriol from baptized, chrismated christians both of the orthodox and catholic faith communities.
pace e bene!
the monastic presbyter john
Well said. Thank you for sharing these thoughts- following reason instead of fear!
It’s SO Very important to realize all the alphabet soup media (that includes NPR & PBS) are not the place to be getting your news from. The media are owned by 5 corporations, only 5 corporations!!! They are corrupt… they’ve long had an agenda. They are in lockstep with the global order. That goes for the Tech Giants. So the media & big tech are in sync to censor, censor, censor. There may be a blackout altogether as we near January 20th.
Thus why Pres Trump discussed Emergency Broadcast System some months ago. Be alert, be prepared & wait on the Lord!
Fr.
I didn’t read all the comments, so forgive me if someone has touched on this. Thank you for your insight. This is not a disagreement nor am I arguing with you…..it’s my thoughts typed out. I’m a 41 year old double lung transplant patient (almost 13 years out). If that wasn’t miracle enough, we were able to adopt a baby boy this past April….something that fell in our laps, but was something we had always hoped for. I have always taken the Eucharist and have never feared the implications (although I’m sure my doctors would advise me otherwise ;)). But, with this virus, I now have a duty to protect myself so I can raise my son with my husband. It doesn’t scare me to partake in the Eucharist, but to be in church with many others or someone who may have this virus, it deters me from going. Maybe this is not a good way of thinking and if it’s not, may God have mercy on me. Just felt the desire to write from a different perspective. Thank you for reading.
I’m 75 years old, and have a heart condition. I do take precautions, just as we all need to do, but I am not afraid.
As a nurse and former lung transplant coordinator, I am so happy for you!!! As you know, you went through a lot to get those new lungs, and the medications you take to prevent your body from rejecting them suppress your immune system and make you more susceptible to infections. I know that if you were in our parish, our priest would indeed encourage you to stay home and stay safe and wait for this pandemic to pass, which it will, and wait for your new little one safely. He would be there for you, but from a safe distance, as would our entire parish. I will be praying for you and your family and am so very excited to hear some happy news buried in these comments!
Thank you Abbot Tryphon for post and interesting income and outcome.
Thank you for your post, Father. My biggest personal challenge this year has been trying to navigate a path of peace between angry people, with kindness and without judging anybody (I’m not good at this). On the one hand, I have many family and friends who distrust the cultural powers that be and whose responses to the COVID measures range between reluctantly compliant to determined to resist. I don’t always agree with their rationale, but they are largely “salt of the earth”, dependable folks who feel provoked beyond what they’re willing to tolerate. On the other hand, many of my professional colleagues are very fearful about COVID, have no problem with complying with distancing measures for the foreseeable future, and vary in their level of hostility toward those who they feel may be perpetuating the virus due to “willful ignorance”. I like these folks, but they do tend to march in lockstep, culturally-speaking.
Setting that aside, there are two things I’ve thought about often recently:
One is Voltaire’s comment that to find who holds the power, find out who “cannot be questioned.” In any case of widespread emergency – perceived or real – common sense suggests you look out for people jockeying for power and control behind the scenes. Without downplaying the dangers of COVID or any other future quarantine-able virus/disease, it seems to me that for the sake of healthy transparency and sustainable governance beyond such times, there ought to be several layers of independent accountability for (1) the media and press, (2) mammoth corporations (especially those who benefit hugely by the funneling of human activity into internet-only channels), and (3) any civil authority capable of pronouncing mandates that sidestep the ordinary process of law.
Second, perhaps churches could make a viable case for the restoration of their freedom of action if they did an internal audit of COVID incidences among their membership/parishioners (with precautions taken to preserve anonymity). If nothing else, this would be a more proactive (and informative) response than the current range of meek compliance to near-open rebellion found in congregations across the confessing Christian spectrum.
Sorry for the long post. If those last two paragraphs seem divisive (however unintended on my part) and unhelpful, please feel free to delete them. God be with you and your monastic brothers, Fr. Tryphon. I pray for you all often and ask your prayers as well. And, God’s peace be with each of your readers.
With the denial and misinformation stated in many of the replies above, it is no wonder our death total is now over 260,000. A similar death total from the flu would now be less than 50,000 in the same time frame. Many hardly have symptoms. Many others die. There is a spread of symptoms between these two extremes. The death total is likely understated according to the best intel. It is a new virus To which we don’t have immunity. Until we have a vaccine, it is only prudent to be cautious. Is our faith so weak that we can’t seek God while being isolated? I miss church and I would like to return to normal but can be patient until it is prudent. Love in my opinion is not defiant or prideful but considerate and prudent.
An RC saint I have long admired, St. Damien the Leper isolated himself with the lepers in Hawaii to care for them physically and spiritually. He thought a joyful day when he came down with the disease and died from it. Yet when they exhumed his body as part of the sanctification process the erosion to the bone Leprosy causes was not present.
I am sure Fr. Nicola is a peace giving his life for his flock. Is not that what we are supposed to do? Through repentance we can be ready and live without fear.
When I see all these muzzled people walking around like sleep walkers I cannot help but seeing this mask which is supposed to protect us from a virus, which is not more dangerous than the swine flu or the Hong kong flu (a virus is one thousands of the thickness of a hair, so keeping a virus out with a fabric face mask is the same as keeping a mosquito out from a mesh wire fence) symbolizes being made ‘mouth dead’ as we say in German. Don’t speak up, keep quiet, be submissive, don’t question. We are pushed into walking around like Zombies, avoid talking to one another and hugging a person in public is a criminal offence! There is a saying that a habit that you practice for more than 3 months becomes your new you… People become colder, angrier, more impersonal, rushed and scared. There is no community anymore at large. Don’t you all see where this is gonna lead us ? They will make life for us so difficult, that we will beg them on our knees to vaccinate us, chip us, track us, God knows what else. Then they will have achieved what they had been preparing for for a long time. Let us stand up for our personal freedom as long as we can! God bless you, Abbot Tryphon, and keep you safe. Amen!
Spot on, not to mention the pressure to conform to the peer group and to report “for the good of the whole” those who don’t ….. just like in Stasi East Germany.
Respectfully Abbot Tryphon I could not disagree you more. Sadly, Karen R Todorov
I believe that God gave us the wisdom and knowledge to use in protecting ourselves from this virus to ignore reality is against God’s will
The information you provided is flawed we have almost 280000 death I eight months which it could reach 400000 or more in a year compare to average of 50000 deaths for the flue the least we should do is use the masks
Whose reality? Is this “reality” really from God, or is it from the dark side?
So how then should the Church participate in preventing the spread of COVID-19? It certainly has affected the world and the church.
https://orthodoxtimes.com/patriarch-of-moscow-about-100-priests-or-monks-of-the-russian-church-have-lost-their-lives-to-covid-19/
You seem to be focusing way too much on the death rate of COVID-19 (which many others have pointed out you got wrong). What about all the other effects of the virus? People that don’t die but are severely sickened by it, the health care workers that are traumatized by it, the people who are financially devastated by it, the people who die of other things because COVID-19 patients fill the hospitals, etc. Clearly, the answer is not to ignore an infectious disease and play down its seriousness. As uncomfortable as it is, all parts of society must do their part to slow the spread of the virus (including the Church).