The Serbian Orthodox Church makes headlines in foreign media: Their tradition infected the Corleone clergy, one dies.

This bishop faced charges that he had not observed emergency health regulations.

The “Bishop Milutin was infected by the Coronavirus while serving in his eparkia and among his men,” said his municipality in a statement Monday.

Two other clergymen were also infected, according to reports by this church.

The infections and death of 71-year-old Knezevic follow the public's ire over practices, including kissing shrines and even using a single spoon in the community, which was banned under emergency regulations but which had been opposed to the application of other practices by clergymen.

After Serbia declared a state of emergency on March 15th, several videos of people being blessed and sprinkled with a spoon and a glass appeared.

Videos, one of them from March 22nd to Novi Sad, sparked an avalanche of criticism of the church. And for these traditions that violate and endanger Orthodox health, they sparked reactions in foreign media, where most of them wrote about how the Orthodox Church is found in ré firework because of rules imposed by the State.

But Serbian churches still defend their holidays.

It is meaningless and extremely malicious for all those who neither go to church nor accept community to expect that I had to deprive her of what is most important to them, the Serbian Orthodox Church said.

The church even refused to admit that this was true and that it endangers the health of the population. They called it a pure lie.

Serbia has been placed in total isolation as the number of victims has reached 16 while around 785 people have resulted in positive results in the COVID-19 virus.