Friday marks the 12-year anniversary of the election of Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, His Beatitude Ieronymos, to the throne of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Greece.
Members of the Church of Greece’s Holy Synod, during a second round of voting on Feb. 7, 2008, elected Ieronymos as the new Archbishop, by a vote of 45 in favor to 27 in favor of the Metropolitan of Sparta, His Eminence Efstathios.
Speaking on Thursday after an archieratical Divine Liturgy at the Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos, the Virgin Mary, the Archbishop of Athens expressed his grave concern over the prospect of a separation of Church and state in predominately Orthodox Greece.
Ieronymos also referred to a need for cooperation by all, especially within the Church, saying the latter is imperative for resolving issues dealing with education and the specter of a separation of Church and state, “…which we see coming, even if we are loath to accept it.”
In commenting after addresses by theology professors, His Beatitude also forecast that the issue of religion classes in public schools will again resurface. Moreover, he said the risk of such classes being abolished is exasperated by what he called lack of cooperation amongst Church officials themselves.
The comments came during the annual joint session of the Holy Synod and theology professors affiliated with the Athens and Thessaloniki universities, convened at the Church of Greece’s Inter-Orthodox Center, which is located within the monastery.
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