The Pope: Persona Non-Grata in Greece?

***The Pope: Persona Non-Grata in Greece?

AIM Athens, 18 Spetember 1999, AIM Athens

"The head of the Catholic Church will always be welcome. Statements opposing this visit are absolutely contrary to the policy of the Greek state, which is in favor of a reinforcement of the dialogue among the different religions" (a government source in "Eleftherotypia" 27/8/1999). "For the Greek government, the Pontiff is welcome at any moment" (a Greek Foreign Ministry source in "Exousia" 27/8/1999).

"Since 1989, a general anti-Catholic and a particular anti-Pope spirit have been growing stronger in Greece. Do not forget the statements of a few years ago by a Minister and by Orthodox bishops that the Pope is a war criminal. These were official statements that were never disclaimed by any official government or Church authorities. (...) There is certainly oppression of the Catholics in Greece. Here the medieval principle of cujus regio egius religio (i.e. whoever owns the country also owns the religion) still applies. For many people, being Greek means being Orthodox. It is taken as strange if someone is Greek without being Orthodox. Such mentality is nourished by both the state and the Orthodox Church" (Roman Catholic Archbishop of Athens Nicholaos Foscolos in "Eleftherotypia" 31/8/1999).

If the Pope is really welcomed by the highest authority of a modern European state, namely its democratically elected government, why such statements by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Athens? Or is not Greece a truly secular state? The constitutional amendments introduced with a first parliamentary vote in 1998 did not affect the church-state relations at all. Just at the threshold of the new millenium the Eastern Orthodox Church still enjoys a privileged status in Greece. Having a state religion does not in itself run counter to any international instruments. However, the significant political and economical influence that the Orthodox Church wields in the country affects religious freedom in Greece, allowing enough space for discrimination against other religions. The unwillingness or the mere incapacity of the major political parties to proceed with the process of state separation from the Orthodox Church make this space even bigger. Sometimes the very declaration that one is Catholic is not tolerated. "Usually, when a Catholic goes to register his/her child in the municipal registry, the employee writes down 'Christian Orthodox' without even asking. If s/he says 'but I am a Catholic' s/he gets the following answer 'what do you mean? We will write Christian Orthodox.' We usually have to be very persistent in making them write 'Catholic'..." (Archbishop N. Foskolos, op.cit.).

As far as the possibility of the Pope visiting Greece is concerned, no wonder that the whole debate finds itself in this wider spectrum of church and state relations in the country. The Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios has urged the leaders of the Orthodox Church around the world to welcome the Pope. Still, there are numerous representatives of the Greek Orthodox Church -mainly, but not solely, from the anti-ecumenical fraction- who explicitly state their position: the Pontiff is undesirable even as a plain worshipper and head of state; let alone as leader of a Church.

For many of them, like the monks in Mount Athos, such a visit will eventually be a "provocation against the common religious feeling" as stated in the statement of the Holy Community of Mount Athos, attributing to the Pope regal, as well as hostile intentions towards Orthodoxy. "If one reads carefully the letters of the Pope one would discern an effort on his behalf to maintain a strategic advantage over the organization of the celebrations for the year 2000 and the realization of royal progress, without any sign of retreat but, on the contrary, the underscoring of his 'primacy' (...) Special attention should be paid to the potential ecclesiastical welcomes, the co-prayers, the embracing and the 'pan-Christian doxologies' to which the Pope is referring in his letters, which are against the rules of the Church. These rules strictly forbid ecclesiastical communion with heretics. The position of the local church authorities will admittedly be difficult and very dangerous for the unity of the Church. It will scandalize the faithful. (...) We will wind up by summarizing with best intentions and responsibility that the attitude of the Pope so far does not show honesty and respect for the Orthodox Greek people. That is why a visit by him would be a provocation against the community and religious feelings, which will eventually turn against the interests of the Church of Greece, the Greek state and the Pope himself." ("Exousia" 17/8/1999).

Press officer of the Athens Archdiocese and Chief-Secretary of the Holy Synod Father Ierotheos expressed a similar view. Such a visit would be the "a Trojan Horse for Orthodoxy." "Of course I am opposed to such a visit, as it will lead to reactions not only in Greece but also in Russia and Ukraine" (Vradini, 18/8/1999). Also, the spokesperson of the Archbishop of Athens and the Holy Synod, Theoklitos Koumarianos, did not show great enthusiasm for the idea: "As regards this visit, there are problems and the Church of Greece cannot accept the Pope as a representative of a Christian Church" ("Eleftherotypia" 27/8/1999).

This negative reaction and the choice of words by the aforementioned Church representatives are reminiscent of the time of the Schism and the Crusades. A full regression to the Middle Ages came some days later: "Do not forget that Constantinople fell not in 1453 but in 1204. It fell to the Crusaders. No regret was ever displayed" (spokesperson of the Permanent Holy Synod and Bishop of Piraeus Kallinikos at a press conference, "Eleftherotypia" 7/9/1999). Further on, the bishop accused the Catholic Church of proselytism in the former Eastern Bloc, of making a "mistake" in Bosnia and of recognizing the Republic of Macedonia as such instead of as "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia."

As the Roman Catholic Archbishop in Greece put it bluntly in his interview, the anti-Catholic spirit is not new in the country. It is a process that started developing in 1989. This intolerance is directed not only against the Catholics and the Vatican state. Latest incidents of bigotry against Jehovah's Witnesses and Muslims show a general atmosphere of religious intolerance in Greece, encouraged by the lack of any serious critical comments by the majority of the political, academic and journalistic world. Moreover, some politicians (e.g. Mr. Papathemelis from the governing PASOK, and Mr. Tsitourides and Mr. Psomiades from the conservative opposition New Democracy) have openly backed the Orthodox Church of Greece, stating that the latter should be the only one to make a decision on the visit ("Vradyni" 18/8/1999).

This general atmosphere of intolerance in Greece was reinforced once again on July 11, 1999 in Kassandreia (Halkidiki), where Mayor Papayannis incited the local residents to hold a protest rally against the construction of a house of worship by Jehovah's Witnesses. The latter had already obtained the necessary building permit in 1995. The municipality had objected to the construction from the very beginning with both lawful and seditious means. After a lengthy bureaucratic procedure, the local Jehovah's Witnesses got the approval of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs (4/2/1999) and the Halkidiki Zoning Office (5/7/1999). The demonstrators at the rally dug a trench around the property of the Jehovah's Witnesses with the help of the municipality's bulldozer and then parked cars in front of the entrance in order to make access to the area impossible. This public pressure prompted the competent Zoning Office to temporarily revoke the permit and the construction was stopped.

In the course of their annual meeting in Larisa in mid-August 1999, Jehovah's Witnesses faced the hostile reaction of the local Orthodox Church and residents. The mourning toll of the bells of the Orthodox churches filled the air. Noisy liturgies were held in the open at a close distance, opposite to the meeting place. Hostile slogans were chanted and an Israeli flag was burned. In both cases related to the Jehovah's Witnesses, there was no official condemnation of the incidents, while some media went into exuberant praise of the event in Larisa.

The already planned construction of a mosque in Athens to service the needs of its thousands of Muslims and of the Muslim athletes of the 2004 Olympics is yet another burning issue for the Greek state and the Greek Orthodox Church. With a heavy heart, the latter accepted the construction and -since there was no real way to prevent it- suggested that it be placed in the Olympic village. Building of the mosque in this remote area would clearly discourage its functioning after the Olympic Games.

Last but not least, in the course of a theological congress in early September 1999, Archbishop Christodoulos spoke against all those who have "misgivings" about the role of the Orthodox Church in public life. In particular, he was very critical of those who see the course on the Orthodox religion at schools more as a course on religions rather than a course on the Orthodox faith. Archbishop Christodoulos was outraged by some questions in recent school exams. He found that they disproportionally focussed on anything but the Orthodox religion. In a nutshell, he opposed the inter-religious character of the course and stated clearly that the Greek Church wanted the teaching of catechism in schools.

Clearly, government and politicians find balancing the popularity of Archbishop Christodoulos and the power of the Orthodox Church with the European orientation of the Greek state and the need for good diplomatic relations with the Vatican not at all an easy task. So far, it seems that the score is in favor of the obscurantist Orthodox Church: the Pope's visit in 2000 was cancelled.

Christina Rougheri (AIM)