ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the mobilization and political controversy surrounding the establishment of a mosque in the metropolitan area of Athens during the last decade. It explores the influence that established relations between Orthodoxy and the Greek state weigh upon the latter, but also the fundamental ramifications of accommodating the religious needs and demands of Muslim immigrants. The chapter argues the active involvement of the Orthodox Church of Greece in the political debates regarding Islam's presence in the country. It analyses articles from the daily and Sunday press presenting the responses of the Orthodox Church of Greece regarding the suspended plan to construct an Athens central mosque. The chapter considers that the Greek state's objective to regulate the institutional framework within which its new immigrant population can practise Islam falls within the country's tradition of central administration and state interventionism.
