Ieronymos

"We are here to celebrate, we find everything else," Archbishop Ieronymos said earlier - It is the Prime Minister's first presence at the Metropolis since the Mass for the New Year

Archbishop Ieronymos, the leader of the Orthodox Church of Greece, swiftly recognized the potential danger: Over the Easter holiday, churches across the country could become arenas for disapproval and harassment, potentially escalating beyond control.

The statements on Friday by Archbishop Ieronymos and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, during a joint visit to facilities of the Archdiocese of Athens in Dilesi, Viotia, Central Greece, demonstrated in the most emphatic way that the rift in relations between the Church and the government over the legislation on same-sex marriage has been largely bridged. 

Archbishop Ieronymos, the leader of the influential Orthodox Church of Greece, on Friday denounced threats made by a nationalist party leader against deputies of the ruling New Democracy party.

With a desire for mutual rapprochement between Church and State, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Archbishop Ieronymos are to visit tomorrow, together, the structures of the Archdiocese in Delesi, Biotia

The Church loves but does not leave its positions, Ieronymos added

The annual parade of the Armed Forces for Greece's March 25th Independence Day concluded on Monday after passing the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front of Parliament at Syntagma Square, where President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and political and military officials were gathered.

The parade also drew a crowd of thousands of onlookers waving Greek flags and cheering the troops on.

Greece's Independence Day on March 25 and Greek Orthodox Easter on May 3 will serve as a barometer of the Church's response to legislation passed by Parliament institutionalizing same sex marriage. 

Amid the backlash from some clerics over Parliament's recent ratification of a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, Archbishop Ieronymos ordered an ecclesiastical inquiry on Tuesday concerning the archimandrite of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens, Father Seraphim Dimitriou, over his recent behavior toward a socialist MP.

More tension looms between Church and state over the bill for same-sex civil marriage and adoption by such couples which Parliament recently passed, after Greek Archbishop Ieronymos reportedly expressed dismay with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' speech during the House debate on the legislation.