Church of Greece

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Zoë movement
)
"Orthodox Church of Greece" redirects here. For the Old Calendarist church by that name, see Orthodox Church of Greece (Holy Synod in Resistance).
Greek Old Calendarists
(Orthodox Church of Greece) (1979)
Members10 million[1]
Official websiteecclesia.gr
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Eastern Orthodox Church
Christ Pantocrator (Deesis mosaic detail)
Mosaic of Christ Pantocrator, Hagia Sophia
Overview
Background
Organization
Autocephalous jurisdictions
Autocephalous Churches who are officially part of the communion:

Autocephaly recognized by some autocephalous Churches de jure:

Autocephaly and canonicity recognized by Constantinople and 3 other autocephalous Churches:

Spiritual independence recognized by Georgian Orthodox Church:


Autonomous jurisdictions

Semi-Autonomous:

Episcopal assemblies
Noncanonical jurisdictions
Ecumenical councils
  • Other possible ecumenical councils:
  • Other important councils:
History
Theology
Liturgy and worship
Liturgical calendar
  • The four fasting periods:
Major figures
Other topics

The Church of Greece (

archbishop of Athens and All Greece
.

Prevailing religion of Greece

According to the constitution, Greek Orthodoxy is the prevailing religion of Greece; this is reinforced by displays of the Greek flag and national emblem at church properties.

Adherence to the Eastern Orthodox Church was established as a definitive hallmark of Greek ethnic identity in the first modern Greek constitution, the "Epidaurus Law" of 1822, during the Greek War of Independence. The preamble of all subsequent Greek constitutions simply states "In the name of the Holy, Consubstantial, and Indivisible Trinity" and the Orthodox Church of Christ is established as the "prevailing" religion of Greece.

Mainstream Orthodox clergy salaries and pensions are paid by the State, at rates comparable to those of teachers. The church had previously compensated the State by a tax of 35% on ordinary revenues of the church but, in 2004, this tax was abolished by Law 3220/2004. By virtue of its status as the prevailing religion, the

Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs
.

Church hierarchy

The religious jurisdictions of the Church of Greece (in blue) in Greece.

Supreme authority is vested in the synod of all the diocesan bishops who have

Archbishop of Athens
and all Greece. This synod deals with general church issues. The Standing Synod is under the same presidency, and consists of the Primate and 12 bishops; each members serves for one term on a rotating basis and deals with administrative details.

The church is organized into 81 dioceses, of which 36, located in northern Greece and in the major islands in the north and northeast Aegean, are nominally and spiritually under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Patriarchate retains certain privileges over and in them—for example, their bishops have to acknowledge the Patriarch as their own primate during prayers. They are called the "New Lands" (Νέαι Χώραι, or Néai Chōrai) as they became part of the modern Greek state only after the Balkan Wars, and are represented by 6 of the 12 bishops of the Standing Synod. A bishop elected to one of the Sees of the New Lands has to be confirmed by the Patriarch of Constantinople before assuming his duties. These dioceses are administered by the Church of Greece "in stewardship" and their bishops retain their right of appeal (the "ékklēton") to the Patriarch.

The dioceses of

Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs
from among the incumbent Metropolitans of Crete.

Clergy and monastics

As in other Orthodox Christian churches, male graduates of seminaries run by the church (and financed by the Greek State), may be ordained as deacons and eventually priests. They are allowed to marry before their ordination as deacons, but not afterwards. The vast majority of parish clergy in Greece are married. Alternatively, they may enter monasteries and/or take monastic vows. Monastics who are ordained as priests, and possess a university degree in theology, are eligible as candidates for the episcopate (archimandrites). Women may also take monastic vows and become nuns, but they are not ordained.

Monasteries are either affiliated to their local diocese, or directly to one of the Orthodox Patriarchates; in the latter case they are called "Stauropegiac" monasteries (Stayropēgiaká, "springs of the Cross").

Old Calendarists

Main article:
Greek Old Calendarists

A split (schism) occurred within the church in 1924 when the Holy Synod decided to replace the Old Calendar (

Genuine Orthodox Christians". The largest group associating itself with Old Calendarists is the Synod of deceased Archbishop Chrysostomos II Kioussis (Kallinikos Sarantopoulos as of today). This Synod obtained government recognition as a valid Orthodox church, although it is not in communion with the Church of Greece nor with the other Eastern Orthodox churches
.

History

Main articles:
Orthodoxy in Greece and Greek Orthodox Church
Paul the Apostle delivering the Areopagus sermon in Athens. Raphael, 1515
Dionysius the Areopagite, first bishop of Athens
Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens
St Andrew's Cathedral, Patras

Greece was an

mother church". There were only four bishops, and they had political roles.[2]

In 1833, Parliament dissolved 400 small monasteries having fewer than five monks or nuns. These monasteries played an important role in preserving the Greek language along with arts and tradition through generations of monks.[3] Priests were not salaried; in rural areas they were peasant farmers themselves, dependent for their livelihood on their farm work and from fees and offerings by parishioners. Their ecclesiastical duties were limited to administering the sacraments, supervising funerals, the blessings of crops, and exorcism. Few attended seminaries. By the 1840s, there was a nationwide revival, run by traveling preachers. The government arrested several and tried to shut down the revival, but it proved too powerful when the revivalists denounced three bishops for purchasing their office. By the 1880s the "Anaplasis" ("Regeneration") Movement led to renewed spiritual energy and enlightenment. It fought against the rationalistic and materialistic ideas that had seeped in from secular Western Europe. It promoted catechism schools and Bible study circles.[4]

Zoë movement

The 20th-century religious revival was led by the Zoë movement, which was founded in 1911. Based in Athens but operating in decentralized fashion, it reached a membership of laymen as well as some priests. The main activities include publications and the nationwide Sunday School movement in 7,800 churches reaching 150,000 students. Zoë sponsored numerous auxiliaries and affiliated groups, including organizations for professional men, youth, parents, and young women nurses. A strong effort was made to circulate Bibles, illustrated novels, pamphlets, and other religious materials. A liturgical movement encouraged the laity to a greater awareness in the Eucharist, and more frequent Communion.[5] Seminaries were built in the 20th century, but most of the graduates entered teaching rather than parish work. In 1920, only 800 of Greece's 4,500 priests had any education beyond the elementary level. By 1959, out of 7,000 priests no more than five percent had completed university and seminary training. Monastic life declined sharply, although it continued at remote Mount Athos. Routine church life was highly disrupted by the Second World War and subsequent civil war, with many churches burned, and hundreds of priests and monks killed by the Germans on the one hand or the Communists on the other.[6]

Administration and Hierarchy of the Throne

Head of the Church of Greece and of the Holy Synod is

Archbishop of Athens and All Greece
(2008–).

Metropolises and metropolitans of the Church of Greece

Notes
1 In 2010 the

Ilion, Acharnes and Petroupolis (temporary Vicar: the Metropolitan of Megara
)
2 The Metropolis of Trikke was separated from the Metropolis of Stagi (and Meteora) in 1981 but still bears the titular name "Trikke and Stagi"

Titular metropolises and metropolitans

Titular dioceses and bishops

Metropolises and metropolitans of the New Lands

(under the jurisdiction of Constantinople until 1928, then under Athens; except the Dodecanese)

See also

References

  1. ^ "Church of Greece". oikoumene.org. World Council of Churches. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
  2. ^ Kenneth Scott Latourette, Christianity in a Revolutionary Age, II: The Nineteenth Century in Europe: The Protestant and Churches. (1959) 2: 479–481
  3. ^ "Monasteries".
  4. ^ Latourette, Christianity in a Revolutionary Age (1959) 2: 481–483
  5. ^ Demetrios J. Constantelos, The "Zoë Movement in Greece," St. Vladimir's Seminary Quarterly (1959) vol 3 pp 1–15 online.
  6. ^ Latourette, Christianity in a Revolutionary Age (1961) 4: 523–527

Bibliography

Further reading

  • Aderny, Walter F. The Greek and Eastern Churches (1908) online
  • Fortescue, Adrian. The Orthodox Eastern Church (1929)
  • Kephala, Euphrosyne. The Church of the Greek People Past and Present (1930)
  • Latourette, Kenneth Scott. Christianity in a Revolutionary Age, II: The Nineteenth Century in Europe: The Protestant and Eastern Churches. (1959) 2: 479–484; Christianity in a Revolutionary Age, IV: The Twentieth Century in Europe: The Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Churches (1958)

External links

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