The Orthodox Church of Greece: Church-State Relations, Migratory Patterns and Sociopolitical Challenges

The Orthodox Church of Greece has been ever present as a prominent actor of the Modern Greek state, which entails that willingly or not, it had a part to play in the significant events and sociopolitical developments in the country. Both were founded within the same historical conditions and evolved together in an interdependent relationship which affected their structural and institutional composition. In fact, more often than nought the church was utilised by the state, in line with the exigencies of the time – and within the context of the international political climate that co-shaped the domestic currents. In the lapse of time, with the end of the Cold War the migratory paradigm shifted, and Greece, from a country of emigration became a country of immigration alike, and thus both church and state have had to adapt and respond to the new reality; which became all the more imperative with the immigrant and refugee crisis, when an unprecedented number of people fled to Europe through Greece and the Balkan route, constituting thus a notable humanitarian challenge.