- Population: 10.66 million
- Official language: Greek
- Form of government: parliamentary republic
Of its approximately 10.66 million inhabitants, Greece has nearly 9.85 million Christians, or 93% of the population. The Greek Orthodox Church constitutes an overwhelming majority, accounting for 87% of the population (Pew Research Center, 2017). There are also minorities belonging to other Christian churches. There are approximately 200,000 Latin Rite Catholics, while Byzantine Rite Catholics affiliated with the Greek Byzantine Catholic Church number 6,000.
There is also a significant Muslim community (5% of the population), as well as a very long-standing Jewish minority.
Greece was one of the first regions to welcome Christian preaching. Even in the Bible, the Apostle Paul set out to preach the Gospel in Thessalonica, Corinth, and Philippi. He even debated with philosophers at the Areopagus in Athens. Since then, Greece has consistently been a region with a very large Christian majority.
Affiliated with the Church of Constantinople for most of its history, Greece sided with its patriarch during the schism between Catholics and Orthodox Christians. Even today, the Orthodox faith remains the overwhelming majority there.
Today, the Greek Orthodox Church is recognized by the constitution and enjoys numerous privileges, including state-funded salaries for its clergy. Other religions, however, enjoy freedom of conscience and worship, as well as equal citizenship rights.
Of the country’s approximately 200,000 Catholics, only 6,000 follow the Byzantine rite. The Catholic presence in Greece is therefore primarily of the Latin rite, largely due to recent immigration from Poland, the Philippines, and Africa. However, there are also nearly 40,000 Latin Catholics native to Greece, descendants of an ancient Venetian presence in the Cyclades archipelago during the 13th century.
The Catholic Church in Greece is divided into eight Latin-rite dioceses (four archdioceses and four dioceses) as well as an exarchate for the small Hellenic Greek Catholic community, which follows the Byzantine rite. A distinctive feature of Latin Catholics in Greece is that the date of Easter follows the Byzantine liturgical calendar rather than that of the Latin liturgy. Latin Rite Catholics in Greece therefore celebrate Easter on the same day as the Orthodox.
Although the law guarantees freedom of worship and conscience, Greek Catholics may occasionally face a lack of understanding from the Orthodox majority. In the Orthodox context, the Churches are autocephalous and national, and national identity is inseparable from membership in the country’s Orthodox Church. As a result, Catholics in Greece may often be perceived as having only a partial Greek identity and may face a certain degree of suspicion in public opinion.
In Greece, the Œuvre d'Orient provides support for the reception of refugees, particularly in the areas of emergency aid, integration, and education. It sends volunteers to the Jesuit Refugee Center (JRC) in Athens.
