“And the proposal of the previous Government (SYRIZA-ANEL) absolutely coincides in these points with the relevant article of the recently passed bill on HEIs”, says the announcement issued by the Holy Synod
On the occasion of reports about the alleged hiring of thousands of clerics, the Press Office of the Holy Synod issued a statement on the specific issue.
As the Press Office of the Holy Synod notes, in August 2021 the spread of the false claim about 4,000 new hiring of Priests.
“The reality is that from 2011 to 2021 the number of salaried Clergy of the Church of Greece not only did not increase, but decreased from 9,018 to 8,311, while there are many Parishes without a Priest in provincial areas, as well as unpaid Clergy“, the announcement states.
At another point, the Holy Synod emphasizes that, “the inaccuracies were continued by “guides of public opinion” in order to provoke collective hatred against the Orthodox Clergy».
The announcement in detail:
“In August 2021, the spread of the untrue claim about 4,000 new hiring of Priests began on the internet. The reality is that from 2011 to 2021 the number of salaried Clergy of the Church of Greece not only did not increase, but decreased from 9,018 to 8,311, while there are many Parishes without a Priest in provincial areas, as well as unpaid Clergy. The inaccuracies were continued by “guides of public opinion” in order to provoke collective hatred against the Orthodox Clergy.
It has become a propaganda pattern in every shortage of personnel in health, education, forest firefighting, to contrast the lie that the State hired or “permanent” thousands of Priests. Both are untrue, but also contradictory. However, consistency and accuracy are of little importance to militant pseudoscience.
Amidst the tragedy of the fires that our Homeland is facing these days, the last thing expected from some media is to repeat the untruth that with the latest law on HEIs, 2,500 new clerics were allegedly recruited, offering cover for the hate speech against the religious ministers of the Church and its workers.
It’s about distortion of reality and misleading argument, which is solemnly refuted by the proposal of an agreement between the State and the Church of Greece of the previous Government (SYRIZA-ANEL) of 2019, which is why the representatives of the Official Opposition did not even use it during the discussion of the bill in question in Parliament.
In that draft agreement, it was proposed to legislate the positions of only the priests already serving at that time (who were more than there are today), it was recognized that they have a permanent working relationship with their Holy Metropolises and that they are not contractual, so that they must ” be made permanent”, while no new recruitment was proposed in addition to the then existing number of Clergy positions.
Consequently, the proposal of the previous Government coincides completely in the said points with the relevant article of the recently passed bill on HEIs.
In the difficult and critical times we are going through at the national and global level, but also in the face of the tragic consequences of climate change, fires and the resulting pain of people who see their property burning and the common food of all of us, the natural creation of God, the least that is required is that we remain united and willing to help those who are being tested. The Church of Greece and its entire crew (holy Clergy and faithful People) in every case practically stand by the people who suffer”.
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