The constitution and other laws and policies protect religious freedom and, in practice, the government generally respected this right. In July the government appointed a secretary general for religions at the Ministry of Education, Lifelong Learning, and Religious Affairs. The government recognizes the canon law of the Orthodox Church, both within the church and in areas of civil law such as marriage. Privileges and legal prerogatives granted to the Orthodox Church are not extended routinely to other religious groups. Citizens and registered organizations can sue the government for violations of religious freedom. The constitution and law prohibit proselytizing.
The government supports the Orthodox Church financially. For example, the government pays for the salaries and religious training of Orthodox clergy, partially finances the maintenance of Orthodox Church buildings, and provides a tax exemption for the Orthodox Church’s property revenues. Orthodox religious instruction in primary and secondary schools, at government expense, is mandatory for all students, although non-Orthodox students may exempt themselves by turning in a statement requesting exemption. However, public schools offer no alternative activity or non-Orthodox religious instruction for these children. Many private schools offer alternative religious instruction to their students.
The law requires that all civil servants take a religious oath before entering office. Persons not belonging to the Orthodox Church may take an oath in accordance with their own beliefs or on their honor.
As interpreted, the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne gives the Muslim minority in Thrace the right to maintain social and charitable organizations called auqafs, allows muftis (Islamic jurists) to render religious judicial services in the area of family law, and provides certain rights that the government must protect such as bilingual education, government salaries for Muslim religious leaders, operation of mosques and auqafs, and the recognition of Sharia in family law.
In Thrace the government operates secular bilingual schools and two Islamic religious schools. The government gives special consideration to Muslim minority students from Thrace for admission to universities and technical institutes, setting aside 0.5 percent of the total number of places for them annually and implementing a program during university entrance exams that accepts lower scores.
The government maintains that Muslims living outside Thrace are not covered by the Treaty of Lausanne and therefore do not enjoy the rights provided by the treaty to Muslims residing in Thrace. Some Muslims on the Dodecanese Islands assert that they deserve the recognition and rights provided under the treaty.
The government grants Muslims in Thrace the right to choose Sharia law to regulate family and civic issues such as marriage, divorce, custody of children, and inheritance. Members of the Muslim minority in Thrace, however, can choose instead to have civil marriages and take cases to civil court rather than follow Sharia. Muslims married by government-appointed muftis are subject to Sharia family law but may appeal to the courts for a hearing under secular law.
The muftis in Thrace make judicial decisions based on Sharia, most of which has not been translated into Greek, limiting the ability of government courts to provide judicial oversight. Courts in Thrace routinely ratify the decisions of the muftis, who have judicial powers in civil and domestic matters. The National Human Rights Committee (an autonomous government advisory body), human rights organizations, and some media reports have argued that the government should limit the powers of the muftis to religious duties only and not recognize Sharia because it may restrict the civil rights of some citizens, especially women, particularly in child custody, divorce, and inheritance cases. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also has expressed concern regarding impediments that Muslim women in Thrace face under Sharia.
Some groups, such as the Jewish community, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Baha’is, have requested treatment equal to that of the Orthodox Church with regard to legal status and financial support from the government. Leaders of non-Orthodox religious groups state that taxes on their organizations are discriminatory because the government subsidizes Orthodox Church activities and does not tax the Orthodox Church’s property revenues. Members of many religious groups have stated that the government should tax and subsidize all religious entities on the same basis.
The Orthodox Church, Jews, and Muslims are the only religious groups the government recognizes as “legal entities of public law,” entitled to own, bequeath, and inherit property and appear in court under their own names. Other religious organizations must be registered as “legal entities of private law” and cannot own houses of prayer (approved places of worship) or other property as religious entities. In order to own property, they must create other corporate legal entities (such as nonprofit associations) to own, bequeath, or inherit property, or to appear in court. To be recognized as a religious “legal entity of private law,” a religious group must represent a “known religion” or dogma. Court rulings define “known religions” as having publicly taught doctrines with rites of worship open to the public, being nonprofit in nature, not affecting public order or morality adversely, and having a clear hierarchy of religious authorities.
The Ministry of Education and Religion indirectly recognizes groups as “known religions” by issuing house of prayer permits to them. A separate permit is required for each physical place of worship, but a religious group with at least one valid permit is considered a known religion and is protected under freedom of religion laws. Some religious groups, including Catholics, Pentecostals, Baha’is, Methodists, Mormons, evangelical Protestants, and Jehovah’s Witnesses, are recognized as known religions. Other groups, including Scientologists, Hare Krishna devotees, and polytheistic Hellenic religious groups, have applied for but never received house of prayer permits.
Some religious groups face additional legal and administrative burdens because they cannot function as religious legal entities. Scientologists and members of polytheistic Hellenic religious groups practice their faiths as registered nonprofit civil law organizations. Without the recognition afforded by house of prayer permits, weddings officiated by religious leaders are not recognized legally. To receive house of prayer permits, applicants must receive approval from the local urban planning department, attesting that a place of worship meets city planning regulations and “safe congregation” requirements prior to filing an application with the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs.
Catholic churches and related religious bodies established prior to 1946 are legally recognized as private entities, but Catholic institutions established after 1946 are not extended the same automatic recognition. The Catholic Church continues to seek government recognition of its canon law but had not succeeded by year’s end.
The constitution prohibits proselytizing and stipulates that no rite of worship may “disturb public order or offend moral principles.”
The law provides penalties for “whoever intentionally incites others to actions that could provoke discrimination, hatred, or violence against persons or groups of persons on the basis of their race or ethnic origin or expresses ideas insulting to persons or to groups of persons because of their race or ethnic origin.” The law allows any prosecutor to order the seizure of publications that offend Christianity or any other religion. The government did not enforce these laws during the year.
The country has mandatory military service of nine months for male citizens between the ages of 18 and 45. Citizens go into “reservist” status following this service. Mandatory military service is three months for “repatriated” male citizens (those of Greek ethnic background who emigrated from the former communist bloc) and five months of alternative service for repatriated conscientious objectors. The law provides for alternative forms of mandatory service for religious and ideological conscientious objectors. Conscientious objectors may, in lieu of mandatory military service, work in state hospitals or municipal and public services for a period two times the length, minus one month, of the required military service (17 months). A January Supreme Court decision allowed citizen reservists who had already completed military service to receive conscientious objector status subsequently if called back for service. Some religious groups claimed the increased length of mandatory service required of conscientious objectors was discriminatory, and during the year Jehovah’s Witnesses had six pending cases in front of the Supreme Court on different issues related to conscientious objection.
The government observes the following religious holidays as national holidays: Epiphany, Clean Monday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, Holy Spirit Day, the Assumption of Mary, and Christmas.