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Religious landscape

The role of the Orthodox Church

Orthodoxy is largely visible in social and political life in Greece and it extends to several domains. For example, religious symbols (icons) are authorised and often displayed in official (...)

Orthodoxy is largely visible in social and political life in Greece and it extends to several domains. For example, religious symbols (icons) are authorised and often displayed in official buildings and the clergy is invited to give blessings in the military service and prisons or during national civil celebrations, marches and presidential inaugurations, during the religious oath taken by members of Parliament.
Helleno-Orthodoxy, as a continuation of the Hellenism of Ancient Greece and Byzantium in the modern Greece of the 19th and 20th century, remains an essential element of Greek identity. It is, for that matter, based on this point that the Church of Greece continues to justify its presence as a legitimisation authority. At the same time it is a factor of duality and ambiguity that represents significant stakes for Greece as a country that must adapt to several affiliations.

D 19 September 2012    ALina Molokotos

A particular profile

The current religious situation in Greece is characterised by a religious fusion that is both official (close relations between Church and State) and popular (popular rituals). Greece also has a (...)

The current religious situation in Greece is characterised by a religious fusion that is both official (close relations between Church and State) and popular (popular rituals). Greece also has a socio-religious profile that is relatively exceptional compared to Western Europe’s religious model: secularisation and modernity/religious post-modernity. Greece did not directly experience the Renaissance, the Reformation or the Enlightenment and is the only Orthodox country that did not experience communism.

D 19 September 2012    ALina Molokotos

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