Greece Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! AdvancedSpecial charactersHelpHeadingLevel 2Level 3Level 4Level 5FormatInsertLatinLatin extendedIPASymbolsGreekGreek extendedCyrillicArabicArabic extendedHebrewBanglaTamilTeluguSinhalaDevanagariGujaratiThaiLaoKhmerCanadian AboriginalRunesÁáÀàÂâÄäÃãǍǎĀāĂ㥹ÅåĆćĈĉÇçČčĊċĐđĎďÉéÈèÊêËëĚěĒēĔĕĖėĘęĜĝĢģĞğĠġĤĥĦħÍíÌìÎîÏïĨĩǏǐĪīĬĭİıĮįĴĵĶķĹĺĻļĽľŁłŃńÑñŅņŇňÓóÒòÔôÖöÕõǑǒŌōŎŏǪǫŐőŔŕŖŗŘřŚśŜŝŞşŠšȘșȚțŤťÚúÙùÛûÜüŨũŮůǓǔŪūǖǘǚǜŬŭŲųŰűŴŵÝýŶŷŸÿȲȳŹźŽžŻżÆæǢǣØøŒœßÐðÞþƏəFormattingLinksHeadingsListsFilesDiscussionReferencesDescriptionWhat you typeWhat you getItalic''Italic text''Italic textBold'''Bold text'''Bold textBold & italic'''''Bold & italic text'''''Bold & italic textDescriptionWhat you typeWhat you getReferencePage text.<ref>[https://www.example.org/ Link text], additional text.</ref>Page text.[1]Named referencePage text.<ref name="test">[https://www.example.org/ Link text]</ref>Page text.[2]Additional use of the same referencePage text.<ref name="test" />Page text.[2]Display references<references />↑ Link text, additional text.↑ Link text=== Religion === {{Main|Religion in Greece|Greek Orthodox Church|Church of Greece}} {{See also|Muslim minority of Greece|Hellenismos|Ancient Greek religion|Romaniote Jews}} {{Pie chart | thumb = right | caption = Religiosity in Greece (2017):<ref name="Pew2017"/> | label1 = [[Eastern Orthodoxy]] | value1 = 90 | color1 = Orchid | label2 = Other Christians (exc.[[Catholics]]) | value2 = 3 | color2 = DeepSkyBlue | label3 = [[Irreligion]] | value3 = 4 | color3 = Honeydew | label4 = [[Islam]] | value4 = 2 | color4 = Green | label5 = Other religions (inc.[[Catholics]]) | value5 = 1 | color5 = Yellow }} The Greek Constitution recognises [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodoxy]] as the 'prevailing' faith of the country, while guaranteeing freedom of religious belief for all.<ref name="con51,53" /><ref name=Hri.org>{{cite web|title=The Constitution of Greece|url=http://www.hri.org/docs/syntagma/artcl25.html|publisher=Hellenic Resources Network}}</ref> The Greek government does not keep statistics on religious groups and censuses do not ask for religious affiliation. According to the U.S. State Department, an estimated 97% of Greek citizens identify themselves as [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]], belonging to the [[Greek Orthodox Church]],<ref name="religion">{{cite web | url = https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90178.htm | website =International Religious Freedom Report 2007 | title = Greece | publisher =[[United States Department of State]], Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor | date=15 September 2006 |access-date=14 April 2007}}</ref> which uses the [[Byzantine rite]] and the [[Greek language]], the original language of the [[New Testament]]. The administration of the Greek territory is shared between the [[Church of Greece]] and the [[Patriarchate of Constantinople]]. In a 2010 [[Eurostat]]–[[Eurobarometer]] poll, 79% of Greek citizens responded that they "believe there is a God".<ref name="eurostat">{{cite web |url=http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_341_en.pdf |title=Special Eurobarometer, biotechnology; Fieldwork: January–February 2010 |page=204 |date=October 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101215001129/http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_341_en.pdf |archive-date=15 December 2010 }}</ref> According to other sources, 15.8% of Greeks describe themselves as "very religious", which is the highest among all European countries. The survey also found that just 3.5% never attend a church, compared to 4.9% in [[Poland]] and 59.1% in the Czech Republic.<ref name="forskning.no">{{cite web|url=http://forskning.no/2008/02/dagens-ess-religiositet-og-kirkebesok|title= Dagens ESS: Religiøsitet og kirkebesøk|trans-title=Today ESS: Religiosity and church visits | publisher= Forskning|language= no|date= 11 October 2005 |access-date=11 September 2010}}</ref> [[File:Meteora's_monastery_2.jpg|thumb|left|[[Meteora]], complex of giant rock pillars with Eastern Orthodox monasteries made on the picks of the sandstone cliffs.]] Estimates of the recognised [[Muslim minority of Greece|Greek Muslim minority]], which is mostly located in [[Thrace]], range around 100,000,<ref name=religion /><ref name=religion2 /> (about 1% of the population). Some of the Albanian immigrants to Greece come from a nominally Muslim background, although most are secular in orientation.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2006/71383.htm |title=Greece |publisher= [[United States Department of State]] |date=26 August 2005 |access-date=6 January 2009}}</ref> Following the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)|1919–1922 Greco-Turkish War]] and the 1923 [[Treaty of Lausanne]], Greece and Turkey agreed to a [[Population exchange between Greece and Turkey|population transfer based on cultural and religious identity]]. About 500,000 Muslims from Greece, predominantly those defined as [[Turkish people|Turks]], but also [[Greek Muslims]] like the [[Vallahades]] of western Macedonia, were exchanged with approximately 1.5 million Greeks from Turkey. However, many refugees who settled in former Ottoman Muslim villages in [[Central Macedonia]], and were defined as Christian Orthodox [[Caucasus Greeks]], arrived from the former Russian [[Transcaucasus]] province of [[Kars Oblast]], after it had been retroceded to Turkey prior to the official population exchange.<ref>{{cite web |website= Countrystudies.us |url= http://countrystudies.us/turkey/24.htm |title= Turkey – Population | place = US | publisher = [[Library of Congress]]}}</ref> Judaism has [[History of the Jews in Greece|been present]] in Greece for more than 2,000 years. The ancient community of Greek Jews is called [[Romaniote Jews|Romaniotes]], while the [[Sephardi Jews]] were once a prominent community in the city of [[Thessaloniki]], numbering some 80,000, or more than half of the population, by 1900.<ref>The Guardian, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/30/thessalonikis-jews-we-cant-let-this-be-forgotten-if-its-forgotten-it-will-die Thessaloniki's Jews: 'We can't let this be forgotten; if it's forgotten, it will die']</ref> However, after the [[German occupation of Greece]] and [[the Holocaust]] during World War II, it is estimated to number around 5,500 people.<ref name=religion /><ref name=religion2 /> The [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] community is estimated to be around 250,000<ref name="religion" /><ref name="religion2" /> of which 50,000 are Greek citizens.<ref name="religion" /> [[Catholic Church in Greece|Their community]] is nominally separate from the smaller [[Greek Byzantine Catholic Church]], which recognises the primacy of the Pope but maintains the [[liturgy]] of the [[Byzantine Rite]].<ref>Leustean, Lucian N. (2014). "Eastern Christianity and Politics in the Twenty-First Century: an Overview" in Lucian N. Leustean (editor), ''Eastern Christianity and Politics in the Twenty-First Century'', pp. 1–20. New York: Routledge. {{ISBN|978-0-415-68490-3}}, pp 8–9.</ref> [[Greek Old Calendarists|Old Calendarists]] account for 500,000 followers.<ref name="religion2">{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/fundamental_rights/pdf/aneval/religion_el.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070605013415/http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/fundamental_rights/pdf/aneval/religion_el.pdf |archive-date=5 June 2007 |title=Executive Summary Discrimination on the Grounds of Religion and Belief Greece |publisher=[[European Commission]] |last1=Ktistakis |first1=Ioannis |last2=Sitaropoulos |first2=Nicholas |date=22 June 2004 |access-date=14 April 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Protestants, including the [[Greek Evangelical Church]] and [[Free Evangelical Churches]], stand at about 30,000.<ref name="religion" /><ref name="religion2" /> Other Christian minorities, such as [[Assemblies of God]], [[International Church of the Foursquare Gospel]] and various [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]] churches of the [[Greek Synod of Apostolic Church]] total about 12,000 members.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.pentecost.gr/English/history.htm| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20041216225859/http://www.pentecost.gr/English/history%20keim.htm| archive-date= 16 December 2004 | title= Synod of Apostolic Church of Christ | publisher = Pentecost |access-date=22 March 2009}}</ref> The independent [[Free Apostolic Church of Pentecost]] is the biggest Protestant denomination in Greece with 120 churches.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.christianity.gr/church/addresses.php|title=Christianity Ministries|language=el|publisher=christianity.gr|access-date=22 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050530005647/http://www.christianity.gr/church/addresses.php|archive-date=30 May 2005}}</ref> There are no official statistics about Free Apostolic Church of Pentecost, but the Orthodox Church estimates the followers as 20,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.egolpio.com/PENTECOSTAL/freechurpentecost.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202062529/http://www.egolpio.com/PENTECOSTAL/freechurpentecost.htm|archive-date=2 December 2008|script-title=el:Ελευθέρα Αποστολική Εκκλησία της Πεντηκοστής|trans-title=Free Apostolic Church of Pentecost|language=el|publisher=egolpio.com|access-date=22 March 2009}}</ref> The [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] report having 28,874 active members.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://download.jw.org/files/media_books/26/yb14_E.pdf|title=2014 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses|publisher=Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.|date=2014|pages=178–187|access-date=31 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231060621/http://download.jw.org/files/media_books/26/yb14_E.pdf|archive-date=31 December 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> Since 2017, [[Hellenism (religion)|Hellenic Polytheism]], or Hellenism has been legally recognised as an actively practised religion in Greece,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wildhunt.org/2017/04/greek-paganism-legally-recognized-as-known-religion-in-greece.html |title=Hellenism legally recognized as religion in Greece |publisher=wildhunt.org |access-date=9 April 2017}}</ref> with estimates of 2,000 active practitioners and an additional 100,000 "sympathisers".<ref name="newstatesman.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/200703200001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202123343/http://www.newstatesman.com/200703200001|url-status=dead|title=Newstatesman – The ancient Gods of Greece are not extinct|archive-date=2 December 2008}}</ref><ref name="telegraph.co.uk">{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/05/08/wgods08.xml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040901020310/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2004%2F05%2F08%2Fwgods08.xml|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 September 2004|title=Modern Athenians fight for the right to worship the ancient Greek gods|website=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=22 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/feb/01/religion.uk | location=London | work=The Guardian | title=Helena Smith on why some Greeks are worshipping the ancient gods}}</ref> Hellenism refers to various religious movements that continue, revive, or reconstruct [[Ancient Greek religion|ancient Greek religious practices]]. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page