Greece may stop paying state salaries to clergy

The Greek government and the Greek Orthodox Church have reached a preliminary agreement, according to which about 10 thousand priests and other Ministers of the Church will soon cease to receive government salary. About it November 7, announced a number of media, citing Reuters.

    

At the moment, the clergy receive salaries from the state budget. Greece it costs 200 million euros each year.

Under the agreement, reached by Prime Minister Tsipras and Archbishop of Athens Jerome state once a year to transfer the subsidy to a special Church Fund for the salaries of the clergy.

It is expected that the agreement will be able to resolve a longstanding dispute between Church and state over the ownership, as the Church is one of the largest real estate owners in Greece. Now the agreement must be approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, Parliament and Church leaders.

Some clergy have opposed such arrangements.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.