Religion

Prior to Ottoman rule, Greece was part of the Eastern Roman Empire, or as it is commonly known, the Byzantine Empire. The civil and religious capital of the Roman Empire was moved to New Rome or Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) by Constantine the Great. Since Constantine’s time the Orthodox Christian faith has flourished and spread throughout Eastern Europe. Even under Turkish rule and repeated attempts at being proselytised firstly by the Jesuits and then by the Protestants, Orthodox Christianity survived and flourished.
The role of the Orthodox Church in maintaining Greek ethnic and cultural identity during the 400 years of Ottoman rule, has strengthened the bond between religion and government. Most Greeks, even many non-practicing Christians, revere and respect the Orthodox Christian faith, attend Church and Major Feast days, and are emotionally attached to Orthodox Christianity as their 'national' religion.
The Greek Constitution reflects this relationship by guaranteeing absolute freedom of religion while still defining the "prevailing religion" of Greece as the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ. In practice, the Orthodox Church and the secular state are intimately involved with one another. Joint approval is needed for the building of churches and the Church has even blocked the building of places of worship for other religions in Athens. Priests receive state salaries. The President of the Republic takes an oath on the Bible and Orthodox Christianity is given privileged place in religious studies in primary education. The Church has also been allowed to keep its large portfolio of financial assets exempt from taxation and fiscal auditing.
Starting in January 2005, a series of highly publicised corruption scandals involving high rank church officials have led to many calls by secular Greeks for the complete separation of Church and State and greater control of Church assets.
The majority of Greeks (95-98%) have at least nominal membership in the Eastern Orthodox Church, although religious observance has declined in recent years. Greek Muslims make up about 1.3% of the population, and live primarily in Thrace. Greece also has some Roman Catholics, mainly in the Cyclades islands of Syros, Paros and Naxos; some Protestants and some Jews, mainly in Thessaloniki (which was once a major Jewish city at least until the Balkan Wars). Some groups in Greece have started an attempt to reconstruct Hellenismos, the ancient Greek pagan religion. See also: Greek Orthodox Church.
One small part of Greece, Mount Athos, is recognised by the Greek constitution as an autonomous monastic republic, although foreign relations, however, remain the prerogative of the Greek state.
Spiritually, Mount Athos is under the Patriarchate of Constantinople and is therefore in communion with all the monasteries on Mount Athos and with the Orthodox Church based in various countries. One monastery has recently broken away and has formed a completely independent schism on the Holy Mountain -- Esphygmenou Monastery. Esphygmenou is composed of 117 Zealot monks who stubbornly oppose the head of the Church and do not commemorate him any more. They believe that they are the last remaining true Christians in the world and that Orthodoxy has been corrupted by having dialogue with other faiths. They also object to the lifting of the anathemas against the Roman Catholic Church in the 1960's by Patriarch Athenagoras.

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