An amount of € 2.095 million was spent by the Church of Greece in 2018 to pay taxes, of which € 1.858 million relates to the payment of the Single Property Tax (ENFIA).
In particular, the Standing Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, which met on Wednesday, June 26 to date, under the presidency of Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece, on Friday, June 28, approved among other things the income and expenditure account and the balance sheet for the year 2018.
It was noted that € 2,095,728.43 were spent on the payment of taxes. Of these, an amount of 1,858,087.95 euros was related to the payment of ENFIA, 187,349.97 euros were related to the payment of the tax of rental income and 50,290.51 euros were related to the payment of other taxes and fees.
The Holy Synod also decided to send a letter to Minister of Education, Research and Religious Affairs, Konstantinos Gavroglu, for the immediate suspension of the process of mentioning or not mentioning Religion on school diplomas.
Also, the Holy Synod was briefed on the statement of expenditure of the charitable work of the Church of Greece (Holy Archdiocese of Athens and Holy Metropolises) in the year 2018. The amount spent is € 121,530,510.27, the operational charitable structures are 4,483, while the volunteers are 14,945 persons.
Moreover, over the past year (2018), more than 4,500 staff members were employed, whose salary exceeded 36,000,000 euros, while the payments for their social security contributions were about 14.5 million euros. In addition, for the year 2018, the legal entities of the Church of Greece paid taxes of 12,000,000 euros.
Among other things, the amount of 316,000 euros for exceptional financial assistance to families whose houses were destroyed by the fire of July 23, 2018, was approved for the 158 families included in the list given by Metropolitans Nicholas of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki, Kyrillos of Kifisia, Amaroussion and Oropos, and Konstantinos of Megara and Salamis.
The Holy Synod also decided that the Metropolis of Xanthi will continue to grant the third child allowance for the support of the Thracian three-child families.
It also approved the Archbishop’s proposal for the appointment of Archimandrite Nikodimos Farmakis to the post of the General Rapporteur of the Committee of Director of the Central Ecclesiastical Service of Finance (E.K.Y.O.).