Church of Greece

The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece will hold an open event on Wednesday to discuss the government's plans to review the Constitution and the question of the separation of Church and state.

Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis and the head of the Church of Greece, Archbishop Ieronymos, Thursday signed a memorandum of cooperation on "social solidarity and cohesion."

The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece will convene on March 8 and 9 to discuss its course of action over the new way, introduced by the government, that religion is taught at school.

The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece on Tuesday issued a statement saying that individuals dressed as clerics who have been appearing on Greek television channels and speaking in support of the nationalist political grouping Convention of Greeks, founded by self-proclaimed billionaire Artemis Sorras, are not priests in the eyes of the Church.

Education Minister Nikos Filis appears to have become persona non grata in the eyes of the Church of Greece and Archbishop Ieronymos, who, in a interview on Skai TV late Tuesday, described him as a "problematic person" and "inconsistent in his actions and words."

As such, he said "one cannot expect this relationship to bear any fruit."

Emergency talks on Wednesday night between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the head of the Church of Greece, Archbishop Ieronymos, appeared to have healed a rift between the government and the Church over the structure and content of religion classes at the country's school.

Church of Greece spokesman Haris Konidaris on Wednesday said Archbishop Ieronymos will not hold talks with Education Minister Nikos Filis on the issue of religious classes at schools.

Filis recently said that any consultation on the changes proposed by the left-led government will take place after the end of the current academic year.

Amid growing tension between the Church of Greece and the government over changes to the way religion is taught at schools, Archbishop Ieronymos said on Friday that there are "some who do not love their country and want to de-Hellenize it, and some who don't love the Church and want to de-Christianize it."

Archbishop Ieronymos, the head of the Church of Greece, is a shining example - and an exception - of reason and tranquillity in the country's particularly toxic, current environment.

The Church of Greece, and by extension Greek society in general, are fortunate to have Archbishop Ieronymos in the position he is in today.

The row between the government and the Church of Greece intensified on Friday, when Archbishop Ieronymos and Education Minister Nikos Filis exchanged angry letters regarding the coalition's decision to change religion classes at schools.