LAST UPDATE 15:52
by Romfea.news
In Greece there is religious freedom. Therefore, no one is persecuted. The expression “prevailing religion” refers to the fact that the majority of the Greek people are Christian Orthodox. This does not imply anything else.
Those were the words of Elder Metropolitan Demetrios of Princes Islands after the meeting of a delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Church of Crete with the Minister of Education Kostas Gavroglou.
After he thanked Mr. Gavroglou for his hospitality and his respect for the Ecumenical Patriarchate, he stressed that the delegation repeated to Mr. Gavroglou the concern of the Ecumenical Patriarchate about the amendments of the Greek Constitution discussed.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate does not wish the amendment of Article 3 of the Constitution, which honours the Ecumenical Patriarchate as an institution of international public law, regulates its relations with the Greek State and the Greek Church and avoids crises that existed in the past.
“Also, the Ecumenical Patriarchate does not want the addition of religious neutrality to this article. It considers it to be unnecessary because, according to experts, this expression has a large conceptual range that, if it exists, it will probably create a problem.
In Greece, there is religious freedom, no one is persecuted, and let us repeat that the expression ‘prevailing religion’ refers to the fact that the vast majority of the Greek people are Orthodox Christians and does not imply anything else,” said Metropolitan Dimitrios.
On the clergy payroll, Metropolitan Dimitrios stated that the Ecumenical Patriarchate “does not want to dismantle the pay, work and insurance rights of the clergy. This wish was passed on by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to the Prime Minister, Mr. Tsipras, in Halki, who listened to it very carefully, and we then also repeated it to the Minister during our nice cooperation.”
“A descriptive text which does not include the Church of Crete was sent to us yesterday and, of course, there is a concern on the part of the Church of Crete and ours. I cannot say, as it is, that this expresses us. We believe that the Minister’s assurance that the dialogue will continue is hopeful,” Elder Dimitrios said.
Also during the meeting they discussed the issue of posting clerics of the Ecumenical Throne abroad.
“We wish that careful consideration will be given to the issue of the clergy payroll and the concerns and expectations of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for the good of our Church and our kind,” Elder Metropolitan Dimitrios of Princes Islands underlined.