ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on presenting the main events of the Orthodox Church of Greece crisis, its socio-political background and the reasons that led to its eruption. It explores part and parcel of the systematic effort to bring the church to the centre of attention in contemporary Greek society by bestowing a new public role upon it, namely that of expressive interventionism. The idea of religions becoming significant public factors is discussed amply in contemporary social science, especially after Casanova draws attention to this matter on the basis of various case studies worldwide. Specifically, the crucial issue of which institution holds priority in this balance of power, alliance and cooperation has not yet been adequately addressed and solved in Greece, at least not in the way it has been done in Western Europe. It was seen as a springboard to successful reforms of the current framework of church state relations, which was considered utterly outdated in the present global age.