Greece’s socialist government is to stop paying state salaries to Orthodox clergy, under a new 15-point agreement with the predominant Church.
“At this historic moment, the Church feels it is becoming not wealthier, but more functional in fulfilling its visions,” said Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens. “Intent and goodwill are needed from both Church and state in finding a solution to problems unsettled for years, and we wanted to work out a process for achieving this”.
The church leader spoke after agreeing with premier Alexis Tsipras to create a joint fund for managing the Orthodox Church’s assets and investments, which will also cover salaries for around 100 archbishops and 10,000 clergy hitherto on the civil service payroll. Greek newspapers said the accord was the first in three decades on clergy pay, which has been met from the state budget since 1939 in compensation for church property confiscations. However, they added that the change still required parliamentary approval, and could face tough opposition from the Orthodox Church’s governing Holy Synod.
Greece’s left-wing Syriza government, elected in January 2015, has pledged to review the official status of the Orthodox Church, which is recognised as the ‘’prevailing religion” under the constitution, which also requires public office-holders and court plaintiffs to take a religious oath.
Spokesman Dimitris Tzanako-poulos said the government, which was forced to adopt draconian austerity measures in 2015 in return for bailouts by the EU and International Monetary Fund, would save around 200 million euros from the accord.
The reform, widely expected to herald further constitutional efforts to loosen Church-state ties, will not affect the vast land holdings of Orthodox monasteries.
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