Separation of church and state

In an op-ed article published on June 11, prior to this year's second election in Greece, I argued that despite my reservations about New Democracy's performance in its first term, I would vote for them because I wanted to safeguard the governability of Greece.

Who should we believe? The prime minister, who made a commitment to pass legislation allowing same-sex marriage, or the high-ranking clerics who never miss an opportunity to vent their homophobic vitriol?

The government has released its revised plan on the implementation on the church-state agreement agreed to by PM Alexis Tsipras and Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece, following a meeting between Education, Research, and Religious Affairs Minister Kostas Gavroglu and the church's committee on dialogue with the state.

Archbishop Ieronymos on Friday assured clerics of the Greek Orthodox Church that an agreement for the separation of church and state that is currently under discussion will safeguard their rights.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Archbishop Ieronymos agreed on Tuesday that the government will continue to guarantee the wages of the country's some 9,000 clergymen and, in exchange, the Church of Greece will not oppose proposals to make the state "religion neutral."

The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece said there is no need to change the relations between Church and state in the country, adding that the 1975 Constitution clearly defines their roles.

Outspoken Bishop Anthimos of Thessaloniki spoke out on Tuesday against plans by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to include the separation of the Church and the state in the government's plans for constitutional review.

"This issue has been raised before," he told Thema 104.6 FM. "On all occasions I was clearly opposed to it," he said, adding, "I don't understand the reason."

The Council of State on Tuesday deemed unconstitutional a set of changes introduced by former education minister Nikos Filis to the way religion is taught at the country's public schools, in a bid to introduce greater separation between church and state.

During an address in the town of Pyrgos, southern Greece, on Saturday, President Prokopis Pavlopoulous hailed the role of the Orthodox Church in the history of the Greek nation as decisive.

The goal is to make the Church more inclusive.

The Church newspaper, Kyrkans Tidning, reported that the proposal was adopted on Thursday by a large majority.

Church of Sweden Archbishop Antje Jackelen, who is a woman, said the move was meant to "show the world that we are a church that can embrace diversity."