Posted on 04/21/2012 10:24:47 AM PDT by marshmallow
* Government cutting priests' numbers and salaries
* Demand for church charity soaring as crisis bites
* Conservative church turns to modern business deals
ATHENS, April 20 (Reuters) - Close links between the Greek state and the Orthodox Church are turning from a blessing for the clergy into a curse as the debt-laden government struggles to fund the ancient institution, just as impoverished Greeks need its charitable work most.
Starved of money as the state makes huge spending cuts, the deeply conservative church which grew from one of the earliest centres of Christianity is seeking new sources of funds.
But despite a new spirit of enterprise, such as at one monastery which wants to build a solar energy farm, numbers of priests are dwindling, those that remain are suffering pay cuts, and the church is fighting to keep soup kitchens open as unemployment soars and poverty deepens.
"The tills are empty and the system is collapsing," said Ignatios Stavropoulos, a modernising priest who has his own page on LinkedIn, a social website for professionals.
Under a 60-year-old treaty, the state agreed to pay priests' salaries in exchange for large amount of church property, including l a nd. Bu t this means more than 10,000 priests are now on the government payroll, putting a 190 million euro ($250 million) annual burden on the country's overstretched budget.
Under the terms of an international bailout that saved Greece from bankruptcy, the government is cutting pay which for a typical parish priest is about 1,000 euros a month. Athens will also fund only one new priest to replace every 10 who retire or die, causing shortages in remote parishes during a deep recession when the flock most needs help.
In the cities, the church has stripped operations to the bone to save money............
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Thanks marshmallow.
Christian State church is an oxymoron! People of Christian faith DO NOT need government bucks to exist.
It’s a breach of contract, the church should demand the return of the church lands.
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