Greece - Korina Miller [34]
The new arrivals also include more than 150,000 people of Greek descent who repatriated from the former Soviet Union and Balkan states after the fall of communism.
Mixed marriages are becoming common, especially in rural areas where Eastern European brides fill the void left by Greek women moving to the cities. While there is still a long way to go before migrants are accepted into the community, there is recognition that they keep the economy going. Greece’s illegal immigration problems have also sparked anti-immigrant rallies by far-right fringe groups.
Until recently Greece’s only recognised ethnic minority were the 300,000 Muslims in western Thrace (mostly ethnic Turks exempt from the 1923 population exchange), who continue to have a difficult time, despite being Greek-born.
Very small numbers of Vlach and Sarakatsani shepherds live a seminomadic existence in Epiros, while you will come across Roma (Gypsies) everywhere in Greece, especially in Macedonia, Thrace and Thessaly.
Religion & Identity
The Orthodox faith is the official and prevailing religion of Greece and a key element of Greek identity, ethnicity and culture. There is a prevailing view that to be Greek is to be Orthodox. While the younger generation aren’t generally devout nor attend church regularly, most observe the rituals and consider their faith part of their identity. Between 94% and 97% of the Greek population belong at least nominally to the Greek Orthodox Church, though the migrant population is changing the dynamic.
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The New Testament was first written in Greek, around AD 350. It was not translated into English until around 1526.
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During consecutive foreign occupations, the church was the principal upholder of Greek culture, language and traditions and helped the Greeks maintain a sense of unity. Under Ottoman rule, religion was the most important criterion in defining a Greek. The Church still exerts significant social, political and economic influence in Greece, which doesn’t have the same Church–State separation as other Western countries (priests are paid by the state). Until recently, Greece was one of the few European countries where religious affiliation appeared on national identity cards. Non-Orthodox Greeks can still have a hard time joining the civil service or military; civil marriages have only been recognised since the early 1980s; and cremation was only recently legalised after much controversy.
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THE BIG SPLIT
Greece was one of the first places in Europe where Christianity emerged, with St Paul reputedly first preaching the gospel in AD 49 in the Macedonian town of Philippi. He later preached in Athens, Thessaloniki and Corinth. After Constantine the Great officially recognised Christianity in AD 313 (converted by a vision of the Cross), he transferred the capital of the Roman Empire to Byzantium (today’s İstanbul) in AD 330.
By the 8th century AD differences of opinion and increasing rivalry emerged between the pope in Rome and the patriarch of the Hellenised eastern Roman Empire. One dispute was over the wording of the Creed, which stated that the Holy Spirit proceeds ‘from the Father’, but Rome added ‘and the Son’. Other points of difference included Rome decreeing priests had to be celibate, while Orthodox priests could marry before becoming ordained; and the Orthodox Church forbade wine and oil during Lent.
Their differences became irreconcilable, and in the great schism of AD 1054 the pope and the patriarch went their separate ways as the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church (Orthodoxy means ‘right belief’).
The Greek Orthodox Church is closely related to the Russian Orthodox Church; together they form the third-largest branch of Christianity.
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The Greek year is centred on the saints’ days and festivals of the church calendar. Namedays (celebrating your namesake saint) are celebrated more than birthdays, and baptisms are an important rite. Most people are named after a saint, as are boats, suburbs and train