Fill-in altar girls spark controversy

Something of a war has broken out in the Church of Greece after an Athens priest enlisted the help of two girls from his congregation to fill in for the altar boys in the Pentecostal liturgy.

The controversial incident took place at the Church of Agios Nikolaos Rangavas in downtown Plaka on Monday, June 5, and soon made the rounds on social media after a parishioner posted a photograph of the 14-year-old twins dressed in the altar boys' robes and holding candles.

The photograph prompted an immediate reaction, mainly from religious and ecclesiastical circles, that saw the initiative as an affront to Christian Orthodox traditions and a herald of more "alarming" developments to come. Some even went as far as to surmise that it was a hint at intentions to allow women into the clergy.

The priest in question, Father Alexandros Kariotoglou, was suspended from service ...