By Antonis Anzoletou

Several members of the majority are wondering whether the “bra de fer” that has begun between the state and the church will continue until the European elections. He particularly employs constituency MPs who lobbied long before the Civil Marriage Equality Bill was passed. The pressing, after all, has not yet stopped from a portion of the lot. Last episode; THE Permanent Holy Synod of the Church decided not to celebrate her Quadragesima in the Metropolis of Athens, as is customary, so that representatives of the state will not be present. And ecclesiastical circles may announce that the doxology of March 25 will take place as normal with Archbishop Hieronymus officiating, however it is clear that the “front” is still active.

Possibly in the ranks of the Church they did not expect marriage for same-sex couples to be voted on so immediately. The prime minister had pledged that it would take place within the current four years whenever several hierarchs were reportedly taken by surprise, as was their congregation. There was the leak about the meeting of the Archbishop with the prime minister at the beginning of the year and from there it all started. Metropolises and parishes have practically been “boiling” since February 16, when equality in civil marriage became the law of the state. They “deify” the MPs who voted against the specific bill and “excommunicate” those who spoke in favor, threatening to stop even from Holy Communion. Does the Holy Synod have to immediately adopt a common attitude towards all politicians so that things don’t get out of hand? Not that such a thing is not anachronistic, but it will certainly help to defuse and avoid extreme situations to a large extent. It is recalled that episodes that caused discussions were already recorded. First the attack of the archimandrite of Heliopolis on Pavlos Christidis and followed by the Diocese of Corfu to the MPs Aleko Avlonitis of SYRIZA and Dimitris Biagis of PASOK that they “made a serious spiritual mistake” and should not consider themselves as active members of the Church.

The answer to the question of whether this whole climate will be reflected in the European elections is not simple. The government seems to have losses to its right in all the latest surveys, but not so big as to threaten to drop it below the 33% it got in the 2019 European elections. There is no complacency, however. These polls have always had the character of a “protest vote” so no one can know how the people who are close to the Church will behave. Much more so if there is a question of influence on the flock after the latest developments. Greater effervescence exists in Northern Greece. Governments made sure they always had good relations with the Church. A typical and more recent example o SYRIZA. In 2015-2019, in Nikos Fili’s conflict with the church over religious matters, the then Minister of Education – with the assistance of Panos Kammenos – was “dismembered”, while the Archbishop’s agreement with Alexis Tsipras regarding church property never progressed.