The fundamental issue of the legal personality of the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine of Sinai in Greece has been definitively resolved with the introduction of a bill by the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports.
The discussion of the bill commenced today in the Standing Committee on Educational Affairs.
“The Greek State practically confirms its determination to support the mission and work of the Holy Monastery and to safeguard its interests. This is a historic initiative that, for the first time in 15 centuries, grants clear legal status to a unique religious and cultural institution, respecting its autonomy and ecclesiastical status. We are preserving a ‘treasure’ of culture and spirituality that belongs to all humanity. We demonstrate in practice that Greece is the cradle of Orthodoxy,” stated Greek Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, Sophia Zacharaki, during the committee debate.
Alongside this legislation, the bill also strengthens Higher Ecclesiastical Academies and the Theology Departments of Higher Education Institutions by facilitating the enrollment of foreign and non-Greek students.
Specifically, it allows up to 10 candidates from the Patriarchate of Antioch, who are citizens of Syria or Lebanon, to enter any Greek university department upon recommendation from the Patriarchate of Antioch and with the agreement of the Church of Greece and the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“In this way, the Greek state decisively helps the Patriarchate of Antioch to improve the education level of its clergy and restores a direct communication channel with the Greek Orthodox in Syria,” emphasized Sophia Zacharaki.
In 2021, for the first time, a prayer house of the Bektashi Alevis of Thrace, a religious minority within the Muslim minority of Thrace, was licensed.
Article 49 of the new bill grants this religious minority legal status as a religious legal entity under Law 4301/2014, marking another step forward in protecting religious freedom in Greece. Zacharaki underlined, “It is the first time that a Muslim religious legal entity has been recognized in Greece.”
Furthermore, the bill strengthens the Ecclesiastical Candidate Schools (S.M.Y.K.) and facilitates the attendance of foreign students from the ancient Patriarchates (Ecumenical Patriarchate, Patriarchate of Alexandria, Patriarchate of Antioch, and Jerusalem) in the Model Ecclesiastical Schools.
The bill also provides substantial support for the charitable work of ecclesiastical institutions.
Finally, the outdated legislative framework governing the licensing of worship spaces, which has been in place since the Metaxas era, is abolished.
“We ensure, as a State, the unhindered exercise of the right to worship for all religious communities and their members, through the establishment of a modern, comprehensive, and coherent legislative framework for places of worship,” concluded Minister Sophia Zacharaki.