Nikos Filis

A dispute between the Church of Greece and the government, which began last September when new teaching material for religion classes was distributed to schools, is continuing to cause problems in the relationship between the institutions.

The dialogue between the Church and State over the way religion is taught in schools must continue, said the Archbishop of Greece Ieronymos after a meeting of the Holy Synod.

Ieronymos said the dialogue must proceed on the basis of what was agreed in October with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

Greek military analysts believe Turkey is raising tensions in the Aegean Sea because it found itself cornered on the Syrian front. According to their analysis, Turkey is becoming more aggressive against Greece, as its ambitions in Syria have been railed back after the US and Russia have abandoned Erdogan in the east.

SYRIZA deputy and former minister Nikos Filis on Thursday said that the leftist party's partnership with nationalist Independent Greeks (ANEL) in the Greek coalition government is "temporary, not strategic."

The Panhellenic Association of Philologists (PEF) have reacted strongly against the plan by the Greek Education Ministry to scrap the teaching of classical play Antigone of Sophocles in high school.

“As I was seating and watching the debate in the Parliament for the Agricultural issues and DOL, I saw once again the country’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, unable to…contain himself and attacking me all over again! I understand his panic as the unprecedented operation of Corruption and Control of the newspapers is now being uncovered, right after his Waterloo with the TV licenses.

The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece will convene on March 8 and 9 to discuss its course of action over the new way, introduced by the government, that religion is taught at school.

Kostas Zouraris, the unconventional, self-proclaimed leftist, communist and Orthodox Chriatian, who was recently appointed Deputy Minister of Education Affairs expressed his support for the erection of multiple Islamic mosques across Greece for the country’s Muslim refugees to expresss their religious faith.

Archbishop Ieronymos has said that separating Greece's Orthodox Church from the state would be "horror."

Speaking on Friday during an event at police headquarters in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, Ieronymos said it was important to maintain the relationship "at a time when institutions are being rocked to their foundations."

The National Union of Theologians has appealed to the Council of State, the country's highest legal body, to cancel the changes introduced by the government to the way religion is taught at schools on the grounds that they are "unconstitutional."