Churches given more freedom to conduct their affairs

A new law allowing the Catholic, Anglican and other churches in Greece to administer their affairs without state involvement was passed through Parliament on Thursday.

Education and Religious Affairs Minister Andreas Loverdos described the legislation, which gives the churches similar statuses to state bodies that operate under private law (NPID), as a “big deal.”

“People spent life in prison for these issues,” he said. The new law applies to the Catholic, Anglican, Coptic, Ethiopian Orthodox, Assyrian and Greek Evangelical churches. It is the first law related to foreign religious communities to be passed in Greece for 68 years.