Easter service crasher arrested
Faithful wearing face masks to curb the spread of coronavirus, light candles during a church service in Athens, on Monday at the start of Holy Week. Greeks are celebrating Easter, on Sunday, the most important religious holiday in the Orthodox Christian calendar, for the first time in two years without any coronavirus-related restrictions on attending religious services or on how many people can gather. [Thanassis Stavrakis/AP]
A man who entered a church in the Agios Panteleimonas area of Athens on Saturday and started shouting in Arabic from the microphone during an Easter service has been arrested, Civil Protection Minister Takis Theodorikakos said on Wednesday.
“The Arab man who created a problem in the Church of St Panteleimon was arrested. Everyone owes respect to our religious service,” he said in a Twitter post
Video footage of the incident showed two members of the church remove him after he shouted phrases in Arabic into a microphone. At the same time, the head priest is seen telling the congregation to remain calm and not to be frightened.
