A New Role for the Greek Church?

With the advent of Archbishop Christodoulos, a new phase in the relations between the Greek Orthodox Church and the state appears to have opened. Under its new leadership, the church is becoming more and more involved in secular issues, including major policy decisions. However, the church's new activism cannot be assessed in the abstract. The conditions that favored Archbishop Christodoulos's unprecedented popularity existed long before his election in April 1998. These conditions may be understood by examing the institutional framework of church-state relations in Greece and the treatment of religious minorities within that framework.