Church of Greece Holy Synod decision angers ministry

The Tsipras government has tried over the past few months to achieve the Church’s acquiescence to a plan altering the payroll regime for clergymen in the country, essentially excluding them from the civil service payroll, and instead shifting them to a state-financed fund.

Many Church hierarchs have expressed opposition to the proposed change, whereas the influential association representing Orthodox clerics in the predominately Christian Orthodox nation is categorically opposed.

A prickly response by the ministry includes, among others, the phrase “… in a democracy dialogue between the state and Church cannot be held with ‘red lines’ and a barren refusal.”