The government’s opposition was strong to the Hierarchy’s decision yesterday to reject the agreement on Church-State relations and to maintain its position on the payment regime of the clergy.
In a statement, the Ministry of Education reported that “the decision of the Hierarchy is an unwelcome development for the vast majority of our people, representatives of the State, intellectuals and clerics, who believe that a new designation of Church-State roles is necessary for the benefit of the Church, the society and the state secularism.”
“In a democracy, the dialogue between the State and the Church cannot be conducted with red lines and sterile rejections,” the Ministry of Education said, emphasizing that “the Church’s response to a comprehensive and detailed proposal of the State cannot be a rejection without putting forward any argument. The government is always ready to conduct a sincere and exhaustive dialogue within the framework of the agreement on November 6, 2018, with no exceptions, selective preferences and ultimatums such as those set forth in today’s decision of the Hierarchy,” the Ministry reported.
The Ministry of Education stated that the November 2018 agreement, as announced jointly by the Prime Minister and the Archbishop, is the only serious and feasible proposal to rationalize Church-State relations that was published and was the basis for consultation that followed in the coming months.
The Ministry concluded in his announcement that during the time of consultations between the Church and the State, “the Church did not raise an alternative plan or counter-proposal to the government. The Church did not even agree to discuss the government’s salary proposal.”
The extraordinary meeting of the Hierarchy continues its work today for the election of Assistant Bishops for the Archdiocese of Athens and for the Metropolises of the Church of Greece.
Yesterday, on the second day of the meeting, the Holy Synod of the Hierarchy decided to continue the dialogue with the State, while insisting on not changing the current payment regime of the clergy.
It has also expressed its opposition to the attempted constitutional amendment concerning the state’s religious neutrality and the protection of the family.