Rural resurrection: A Greek village leans into faith in fight against demographic collapse

FOURNA - Fourna, home to 180 people and hidden in the fir-tree covered mountains of central Greece, is a vanishing village that is determined to keep its place on the map.

A winding four-hour drive from Athens, it enjoys near total silence, periodically broken by church bells and howling dogs. Elderly residents measure the village's chances of survival by the number of children enrolled at the local primary school.

Last year, there were only two.

But Fourna's fortunes have been reversed by an unlikely and tireless partnership. The local schoolteacher, a PhD student studying artificial intelligence, found common cause with the Rev Constantine Dousikos, a burly Orthodox priest and former lumber machine operator who was ordained shortly before turning 50.

They started a despair-fueled campaign to attract families to Fourna, offering settling-in money raised...