July 29, 2025
The Church of Greece expressed
its satisfaction with the bill that grants legal status to the Holy Monastery
of Saint Catherine of Mount Sinai, through its Legal Advisor, Theodoros
Papageorgiou, who represented it during yesterday’s (28/7) session of the
Committee on Cultural Affairs, in which the discussion is being held on the
omnibus bill entitled: “Establishment of a legal entity under public law under
the name ‘Greek Orthodox Holy Royal Autonomous Monastery of the Holy and
God-trodden Mount Sinai in Greece,’ regulations on matters under the
jurisdiction of the General Secretariat of Religious Affairs, strengthening
of security in higher educational institutions, provisions on sports, and other
regulations.”
The bill was approved in
principle, by majority vote and in first reading, by the Committee on Cultural
Affairs of the Parliament. The governing majority voted in favor of its
principle, while from the opposition, apart from the KKE and the New Left who declared
they are voting against it, PASOK, SYRIZA, Hellenic Solution, Course of
Freedom, and NIKI reserved their position for the vote in the Plenary. The
discussion in the Committee on Cultural Affairs will conclude tomorrow,
Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in the Senate Hall, with the 4th session and the
second reading of the bill.
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Private temples
The bill also regulates other
matters within the jurisdiction of the General Secretariat of Religious
Affairs. Among these, the legislative framework for the licensing of places of
worship that had been in effect since the Metaxas period is abolished, while at
the same time the unimpeded exercise of the right to worship for all religious
communities and their members is ensured, through the establishment of a
modern, complete, and coherent legislative framework for the places of worship
of religious communities with or without legal personality, except for the
Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ referred to in Article 3 of the Constitution.
In article 31 of the bill, there
is also a provision regarding the manner of licensing and operation of private
temples. Mr. Papageorgiou, speaking about the other provisions of the bill,
particularly focused on this provision.
“In relation to the more
specific provisions, I refer to article 31, the following one, concerning
private temples. The problems that have arisen in recent years for both the
Church and the State are well known. Since 1940, a private temple may operate
only for the service of the owner and his family. Furthermore, if this is
violated, sealing is foreseen, and with the new provisions, this service of
liturgical functions is extended also to the temples of legal entities.
The Council of State and the
European Court of Human Rights have deemed these provisions lawful, and today,
through this article, the conclusions of the case law are essentially
systematized and incorporated.
I must say that there are
still many temples in Greece, private, which have been erected without
licensing or without consecration, and thus are ‘private temples’, in quotation
marks. There are also temples which have been unlawfully placed into public worship,
and I must mention that unfortunately, there are many cases of families who
have performed sacraments in private temples and have encountered unpleasant
surprises at the registry offices when they learn that the celebrants who
performed sacraments in private temples did not belong to the Church to which
they themselves belong. These are phenomena that are expected to come to an end
with this systematization of article 31,” he said.
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Greek source:
https://www.orthodoxianewsagency.gr/aytokefales_ekklisies/ekklisia_ellados/ikanopoiisi-tis-ekklisias-tis-ellados-gia-to-nomosxedio-gia-ti-moni-sina-kai-ti-rythmisi-ekklisiastikon-thematon/
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