GREECE

The Constitution establishes the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ (Greek Orthodoxy) as the prevailing religion, but also provides for the right of all citizens to practice the religion of their choice; however, while the Government generally respects this right, non-Orthodox groups sometimes face administrative obstacles or encounter legal restrictions on religious practice. The Constitution prohibits proselytizing and stipulates that non-Orthodox rites of worship may not disturb public order or offend moral principles.

Overall, leaders of minority religions noted a general improvement in government tolerance during the period covered by this report, citing fewer detentions for proselytizing, the conscientious objector law, and an effective, well-run Ombudsman's office, which successfully handled an increasing number of cases related to religious freedom.

Greeks tend to link religious affiliation very closely to ethnicity. In the minds of many Greeks, an ethnic Greek is also Orthodox Christian. Non-Orthodox citizens have complained of being treated with suspicion or told that they were not truly Greek when they revealed their religious affiliation. The Government's decision in the summer of 2000 to remove a notation of religious affiliation on national identity cards sparked a national debate on the role of the Church in Greek society.

The U.S. Embassy has worked consistently to promote religious freedom. Embassy officers meet regularly with working-level officials responsible for religious affairs in the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education and Religious Affairs. Officers from the Embassy and the Consulate General in Thessaloniki also meet regularly with representatives of various religious groups, including the Greek Orthodox Church, and the Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Islamic communities.

Section I. Government Policies on Freedom of Religion
Legal/Policy Framework

The Constitution establishes the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ (Greek Orthodoxy) as the prevailing religion, but also provides for the right of all citizens to practice the religion of their choice; however, while the Government generally respects this right, non-Orthodox groups sometimes face administrative obstacles or encounter legal restrictions on religious practice. The Constitution prohibits proselytizing and stipulates that non-Orthodox rites of worship may not disturb public order or offend moral principles.

The Orthodox Church wields significant political and economic influence. The Government, under the direction of the Ministry of Education and Religion, provides some financial support by, for example, paying the salaries of clergy, subsidizing their religious training, and financing the construction and maintenance of Orthodox Church buildings.

The Orthodox Church is the only religion considered by law to be a "legal person of public law." Other religions are considered "legal persons of private law." In practice a primary distinction is that establishment of other religions' "houses of prayer" is regulated by the general provisions of the Civil Code regarding corporations. For example, non-Orthodox churches cannot, as religious entities, own property; the property must belong to a specifically created legal entity rather than to the church itself. In practice this places an additional legal and administrative burden on non-Orthodox religious community organizations, although in most cases this process has been handled routinely. In July 1999, the Parliament passed a law extending legal recognition to Catholic churches and related entities established prior to 1946.

Two laws from the 1930s require recognized or "known" religious groups to obtain house of prayer permits from the Ministry of Education and Religion in order to open houses of worship. By law the Ministry may base its decision to issue permits on the opinion of the local Orthodox bishop. No formal mechanism exists to gain recognition as a known religion, but Ministry officials state that they no longer obtain the opinion of the local Orthodox bishop when considering "house of prayer" permit applications. According to the Ministry officials, applications for additional houses of prayer are numerous and are approved routinely. The only pending application for recognition as a known religion at the Ministry is one submitted in February 2000 by the Scientologists of Greece. Although the deadline mandated by law for processing the applications is 3 months, as of the end of June 2000, the Ministry had not yet determined whether it would recognize the Scientologist community as an "official" religion.

A tax bill passed in 1997 created, among other things, 3 new taxes on all churches and other nonprofit organizations. Leaders of some non-Orthodox religious groups claimed that all taxes on religious organizations were discriminatory, even those that the Orthodox Church has to pay, since the Government subsidizes the Orthodox Church, while other groups are self-supporting.

Religious Demography

Approximately 94 to 97 percent of the country's 10.6 million citizens adhere at least nominally to the Greek Orthodox faith. With the exception of the Muslim community (some of whose rights and privileges as well as related government obligations are covered by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne), the Government does not keep statistics on the size of religious groups. Ethnic Greeks account for a sizeable percentage of most non-Orthodox religions. The balance of the population is composed of Muslims (officially estimated at 98,000, though some Muslims claim up to 110,000 countrywide); accurate figures for other religious groups are not available. Protestants, including evangelicals, are estimated at 30,000; Jehovah's Witnesses at 50,000; the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) at 300; Catholics at 50,000; Jews at 5,000. Scientologists claim 12,000 members. Approximately 250 members of the Baha'i Faith are scattered throughout the country, the majority of which are Greek citizens of non-Greek ethnicity. There are also Anglicans, Baptists, and nondenominational Christians. The old Calendarists separated from the Orthodox Church in 1924 and continued to follow the Julian calendar. There are no convincing estimates of their numbers. There is no official or unofficial estimate of atheists.

The majority of noncitizen residents practice religions other than Greek Orthodoxy. The largest of these groups is the Albanians (approximately 600,000 including legal and illegal residents). An estimated two-thirds of these persons nominally adhere to Islam.

Greek Catholics reside particularly in Athens and on the islands of Syros, Tinos, Naxos, and Corfu, as well as in the cities of Thessaloniki and Patras. Immigrants from the Philippines and Poland also practice Catholicism. The Bishop of Athens heads the Roman Catholic Holy Synod.

Protestant groups constitute the second largest religious group after the Greek Orthodox Church. Some groups, such as the evangelicals and Jehovah's Witnesses, consist almost entirely of ethnic Greeks. Other groups, such as the Latter-Day Saints and Anglicans, consist of an approximately equal number of ethnic Greeks and non-Greeks.

The 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which is still in force, gives Muslims in western Thrace the right to maintain social and charitable organizations ("wakfs") and provides for muftis (Islamic judges and religious leaders with limited civic responsibilities) to render religious judicial services.

The Muslim population, concentrated in western Thrace with small communities in Rhodes, Kos, and Athens, is composed mainly of ethnic Turks but also includes Pomacks and Roma. The approximately 10,000 member Muslim community in Athens (composed primarily of economic migrants from Thrace) is without its own mosque and a state-appointed cleric to officiate at various religious functions, including funerals. Members of the Muslim community often transport their deceased back to Thrace for religious burials to take place. In June 2000, the Parliament approved a bill allowing construction of the first Islamic cultural center and mosque in the Athens area. Mosques operate freely in western Thrace and on the islands of Rhodes and Kos. Construction of a long-delayed mosque in Kimmeria, Thrace was completed in 1998, though its minaret remained unfinished. The issue is one of local sensitivities rather than religious motivation, and the religious operation of the mosque has not been affected.

Scientologists, most of whom are located in the Athens area, practice their faith through the Center for Applied Psychology (KEFE), a registered nonprofit philosophical organization.

The Jewish community numbers approximately 5,000 adherents; the majority is of Greek ethnicity and lives in the Athens and Thessaloniki regions. In October 1999, a rededication of a synagogue in Hania, Crete as a house of prayer and a cultural center was marred by public criticism of the event by the regional governor. The Minister of National Education and Religion, and other government and Greek Orthodox officials lent their support to the rededication. Governmental Restrictions on Religious Freedom

Several religious denominations reported difficulties in dealing with the authorities on a variety of administrative matters. Privileges and legal prerogatives granted to the Greek Orthodox Church are not extended routinely to other recognized religions. The non-Greek Orthodox churches must make separate and lengthy applications to government authorities on such matters as gaining permission to move places of worship to larger facilities. In contrast, Greek Orthodox officials have an institutionalized link between the church hierarchy and the Ministry of Education and Religion to handle administrative matters.

The Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa's order of nuns) together with other organizations offering charitable services, reported difficulty in renewing their visas because the Government does not have a distinct religious workers' visa category. The Government, by virtue of the Orthodox Church's status as the prevailing religion, recognizes de facto its canon law. Similarly, the Catholic Church in 1999 unsuccessfully sought government recognition of its canon law (the official "constitution" of the Church).

As part of new obligations under the Schengen Treaty and the Treaty of Amsterdam, all non-European Union citizens face a more restrictive visa and residence regime than they did in the past. Due to the absence of a religious worker visa category, non-Greek citizen clergy reported difficulty renewing their visas during the period covered by this report. As of the end of June 2000, no progress was made on issuing visas for foreign clergy to perform their religious work in Greece.

Differences remain within the Muslim community and between segments of the community and the Government over the means of selection of muftis. Under a 1991 law, the Government appointed two muftis and one assistant mufti, all resident in Thrace. The appointments to 10-year terms were based on the recommendations of a committee of Muslim notables selected by the Government. The Government argued that it must appoint the muftis, because in addition to religious duties, they perform judicial functions in many civil and domestic matters under Muslim religious law, for which the State pays them.

Some Muslims accept the authority of the two officially appointed muftis; other Muslims, backed by Turkey, have "elected" two muftis to serve their communities (although there is no established procedure or practice for "election"). The Government has convicted one of the elected muftis 11 times over 4 years for usurping the authority of the official mufti. All of the sentences remain suspended pending appeal. The other elected mufti, who was convicted in 1991 of usurping the authority of the official mufti, appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. In December 1999, the court ruled that the conviction violated his freedom of religion and self-expression, but it avoided the question of his legal status as mufti.

Controversy between the Muslim community and the Government also continues over the management and self-government of the wakfs (Muslim charitable organizations) regarding the appointment of officials as well as the degree and type of administrative control. A 1980 law placed the administration of the wakfs in the hands of the appointed muftis and their representatives. In response to objections from some Muslims that this arrangement weakened the financial autonomy of the wakfs and violated the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne, a 1996 presidential decree put the wakfs under the administration of a committee for 3 years as an interim measure pending resolution of outstanding problems. The interim period was extended in 1999.

Muslim activists complained that the Government regularly assesses taxes against the property of the wakfs. Under a national land and property registry law that came into full effect in January 1999, the wakfs, as with all property holders, must register all their property with the Government. The law permits the Government to seize any property that the owners are not able to document; there are built-in reporting and appeals procedures. The wakfs were established in 1560; however, due to the destruction of files during the two world wars, the wakfs are unable to document ownership of much of their property. They have not registered the property, so they cannot pay assessed taxes. To date the Government has not sought to enforce either the assessments or the registration requirement.

In January 1998, a law providing an alternative form of mandatory national service for conscientious objectors (for religious and ideological reasons) took effect. It provides that conscientious objectors may work in state hospitals or municipal services for 36 months. Conscientious objector groups generally characterized the legislation as a "positive first step" but criticized the 36-month alternative service term, which is double the regular 18-month period of military service. Since January 1998, all members of Jehovah's Witnesses (both clergy and laymen) who wished to submit applications for alternative nonmilitary service have been permitted to do so. Still pending resolution are 18 religiously based conscientious objector cases of those individuals who were in the process of contesting a prison term for refusing to serve in the military and whose cases were not covered by the 1998 law. In April 2000, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favor of a conscientious objector who, after serving a prison sentence in lieu of military service, was later barred from employment because of his record.

Jehovah's Witnesses also noted one case during the period covered by this report in which custody of two children was awarded to a Greek Orthodox parent, in part due to the fact that the other parent was a member of Jehovah's Witnesses. The Jehovah's Witness parent was also denied visitation rights.

Evangelical parishes are located throughout the country. Members of missionary faiths report difficulties due to anti-proselytizing laws. Church officials express concern that anti-proselytizing laws remain on the books, although such laws no longer hinder their ministering to the poor and to children. In December 1999, the Government, applying legislation covering radio and television broadcasts, shut down an evangelical radio station over a technical issue on transmission frequency; however, it legally resumed operation a few months later once the case was adjudicated.

According to the president of the KEFE, the Scientologists chose to register as a philosophical organization because legal counsel advised that the Government would not recognize Scientology as a religion. In a step toward gaining recognition as a religion, Scientologists applied for a house of prayer permit in late February 2000. The application is still pending at the Ministry of Education and Religion.

In 1999, a defrocked former Greek Orthodox priest, after exhausting appeals stemming from a 1994 case for usurpation of religious authority, paid a fine in lieu of jail time.

A human rights group reported that in Thessaloniki and in some villages, the municipality has refused to record the conversion of former Orthodox believers to another religion.

Religious instruction in Orthodoxy in public primary and secondary schools is mandatory for all Greek Orthodox students. Non-Orthodox students are exempt from this requirement. However, Jehovah's Witnesses have reported some instances of discrimination related to attendance at religious education classes or other celebrations of religious or nationalistic character. Members of the Muslim community in Athens are lobbying for Islamic religious instruction for their children. The neighborhood schools offer no alternative supervision for the children during the period when religious issues are taught. The community has complained that this forces the parents to have their children attend Orthodox religious instruction by default.

The Government decided in the summer of 2000 to remove a notation of religious affiliation on national identity cards. This sparked a national debate on the role of the Church in Greek society. For example, the issue led Archbishop Christodoulos to organize religious protest rallies in Thessaloniki and Athens in June 2000. Both demonstrations drew over 100,000 supporters. Archbishop Christodoulos vociferously criticized the Government and planned to collect signatures to petition the Government to allow religious affiliation as an option on national identity cards.

Governmental Abuses of Freedom of Religion

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints state has about 80 missionaries in the country each year, for approximately 2-year terms. Church leaders report that their permanent members (nonmissionaries) do not encounter discriminatory treatment. However, police occasionally detained Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses (on average every 2 weeks) after receiving complaints that the individuals were engaged in proselytizing. In most cases, these individuals were held for several hours at a police station and then released with no charges filed. Many reported that they were not allowed to call their lawyers and that they were abused verbally by police officers for their religious beliefs. There were no proselytizing-related court cases during the period covered by this report.

There were no reports of religious detainees or prisoners apart from the problems of temporary police detention experienced by Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses.

In Thessaloniki, in late 1999, the Government Tax Office refused to recognize the Jehovah Witnesses as a non-profit association and imposed an inheritance tax for property willed to them. The individuals appealed the decision in 2000, and as of mid-2000, the case still was pending.

Unlike in the past, there were no reports of assertions by Muslim leaders that the Government routinely withheld permission from Muslims seeking to change their legal residence, which determines where they vote, from rural to urban communities within western Thrace or from elsewhere in Greece to Thrace.

Improvements in Freedom of Religion

Overall, leaders of minority religions noted a general improvement in government tolerance during the period covered by this report, citing fewer detentions for proselytizing, the conscientious objector law, and an effective, well-run ombudsman's office, which successfully handled an increasing number of cases related to religious freedom.

Forced Religious Conversion of Minor U.S. Citizens

There were no reports of the forced religious conversion of minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or illegally removed from the United States, or of the Government's refusal to allow such citizens to be returned to the United States.

Section II. Societal Attitudes

Greeks tend to link religious affiliation very closely to ethnicity. Many attribute the preservation of Greek national identity to the actions of the Greek Orthodox Church during approximately 400 years of Ottoman rule and the subsequent nation building period. The Church wields significant social, political, and economic influence; it owns a considerable, although undetermined, amount of property.

In the minds of many Greeks, an ethnic Greek is also an Orthodox Christian. Non-Orthodox citizens have complained of being treated with suspicion or told that they were not truly Greek when they revealed their religious affiliation. Non-Orthodox citizens have claimed that they face career limits within the military, police, and fire-fighting forces, and the civil service, due to their religions. In the military, generally only members of the Greek Orthodox faith become officers, leading some members of other faiths to declare themselves Orthodox. Few Muslim officers have advanced to the rank of reserve officer and there are reports of pressure exerted on Greek Orthodox military personnel not to marry in the religious ceremony of their non-Orthodox partner, lest they be passed over for promotion.

Members of minority faiths have reported incidents of societal discrimination, such as local bishops warning parishioners not to visit clergy or members of minority faiths and neighbors, requesting that the police arrest missionaries for proselytizing. However, with the exception of the Muslim minority of western Thrace, most members of minority faiths consider themselves satisfactorily integrated into society. Organized interaction between religious communities is infrequent.

Some non-Orthodox religious communities believe that they have been unable to communicate with officials of the Orthodox Church and claim that the attitude of the Orthodox Church toward their faiths has increased social intolerance towards their religions. The Orthodox Church has issued a list of practices and religious groups, including Jehovah's Witnesses, Evangelical Protestants, Scientologists, Mormons, Baha'is, and others, which it believes to be sacrilegious. In 1999 there was an incident in which local Orthodox clergy and local government officials mobilized to demolish a government-approved house of prayer in the process of construction by Jehovah's Witnesses in Halkidiki in northern Greece. The incident was resolved swiftly through the intervention of police forces. Officials of the Orthodox Church have acknowledged that they refuse to enter into dialog with religious groups considered harmful to Greek Orthodox worshipers; church leaders instruct Orthodox Greeks to shun members of these faiths.

Economically, the Muslim minority in Thrace lags behind the rest of Greece. During the period covered by this report, there were no claims of discriminatory denial of Muslim applications for business licenses, tractor ownership, or property construction. The development of basic public services (electricity, telephones, paved roads) in Muslim neighborhoods and villages continues in many cases to be significantly slower than the development of such services in non-Muslim areas.

The percentage of Muslims employed in the public sector and in state-owned industries and corporations is disproportionately lower than the percentage of Muslims in the population. In Xanthi and Komotini, while Muslims hold seats on the prefectural and town councils, there are no Muslims among regular employees of the prefecture. Muslims in western Thrace claim that they are hired only for lower level, part-time work. According to the Government, lack of fluency in written and spoken Greek and the need for university degrees for high-level positions limit the number of Muslims eligible for government jobs.

The Treaty of Lausanne provides that the Muslim minority has the right to Turkish-language education, with a reciprocal entitlement for the Greek minority in Istanbul (now reduced to about 3,000). Western Thrace has both Koranic and secular Turkish-language schools. In the past, Government disputes with Turkey over teachers and textbooks had caused these secular schools serious problems in obtaining faculty and teaching materials in sufficient number and quality; however, this is no longer a problem. In January 2000, 19 new Turkish-language textbooks approved jointly by the Governments of Greece and Turkey were distributed in the schools, the first such distribution since 1974. There were no complaints during the period covered by this report that the Government tried to prevent Turkish teachers (who serve under a 1952 reciprocal educational protocol) from performing their duties. Approximately 8,000 Muslim children attended Turkish-language public schools and an additional 150 attended two bilingual middle schools with a religious curriculum. Approximately 600 attended Turkish-language secondary schools, and approximately 1,600 Muslim students attended Greek-language secondary schools. Many Muslims reportedly attended high school in Turkey, due to the limited number of places in the Turkish language secondary schools, which are assigned by lottery. In 1999 the Government instituted a European Union-funded program for teaching Greek as a second language to Muslim children, primarily in the Greek-language schools, to improve their academic performance and chance of obtaining postsecondary education in the country.

Government incentives encourage Muslim and Christian educators to reside and teach in isolated villages. However, in August 1999, the Ministry of Education reformed the hiring system for teachers, which previously was based on seniority and prior service as a temporary teacher. As a result, Christian educators lost the incentive to reside and teach temporarily in isolated and border villages, which in the past secured priority in hiring. However, teachers and civil servants in border areas continue to receive a special allowance and pay lower taxes.

The law permits the Minister of Education to give special consideration to Muslims for admission to universities and technical institutes. The law requires universities and technical institutes to set aside places for Muslim students each year; 376 spaces were available in 1999. Under this law, 123 Muslim students entered Greek universities and technical institutes in 1999. Approximately 1,700 other Muslim students entered via the national examination process open to all citizens who attend universities and technical schools.

Vandals desecrated the Holocaust monument and a synagogue in Thessaloniki in April 2000, and defaced gravestones in the Jewish cemetery and Holocaust memorial in Athens with anti-Semitic symbols and slogans in May 2000.

Section III. U.S. Government Policy

The U.S. Embassy has worked consistently to promote religious freedom. Embassy officers meet regularly with working-level officials responsible for religious affairs in the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education and Religious Affairs. Officers from the Embassy and the Consulate General in Thessaloniki also meet regularly with representatives of various religious groups, including the Greek Orthodox Church, and the Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Islamic communities. Throughout 1999 and the first half of 2000, the Embassy brought leaders of diverse religious groups to the Embassy and to embassy-related functions to discuss with visiting members of Congress and other U.S. Government officials the situation facing their faiths both in the country and abroad.

Employees of the Embassy's consular section have helped Bible Baptist clergy get permission to visit all prisoners, not only those of the Baptist faith.

The Ambassador and embassy staff accompanied visiting members of Congress to the newly located Jewish museum in Athens, and helped to arrange meetings between representatives of various religious groups and U.S. Government officials in Greece and the United States.

In October 1999, during President Clinton's visit to Greece, religious leaders of all faiths, including Archbishop Demetrios, head of the Orthodox Church in North America, were invited to official embassy events.

The Ambassador has been an open supporter of the Jewish Museum and the Jewish community in general.

The Ambassador and embassy officials regularly visit religious sites throughout the country, invite representatives of all faiths to social events, and meet with individuals of all faiths.

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