Watching the World
In this issue, Awake! devotes this entire section to a crisis that has arisen in ‘the cradle of democracy.’
Religious Persecution In Greece—Why?
ON SUNDAY June 15, 1986, some 700 Christian Witnesses of Jehovah met together in a peaceful assembly at the Galaxias Cinema, in Larisa, Greece. They were holding their semiannual circuit assembly to study the Bible and to improve the application of its Christian principles in their daily lives.
This meeting was in harmony with the modern Constitution of Greece, put into law in 1975, which states that “Greeks shall have the right to assemble peaceably and unarmed.” It also declares: “Freedom of religious conscience is inviolable.” The Constitution adds: “All known religions shall be free and their rites of worship shall be performed unhindered and under the protection of law.”
However, at about 11 o’clock on that June day, sinister developments took place around the cinema where these Christian Witnesses of Jehovah were peaceably assembled. The local newspaper I Larisa tells what happened: “Hundreds of people, especially members of Christian [Greek Orthodox] organizations of our town, with a few priests taking the lead, started to gather and began to express their disapproval of those in the cinema—over 700 Jehovah’s Witnesses. The crowd looked as if it was about to go into the cinema and put a stop to the assembly.”
The mob surrounded the cinema for hours, and the situation grew very threatening. What prevented this mob action against the Christian Witnesses from turning into violence against them?
Mob Violence Averted
The newspaper account continues: “The district attorney arrived on the scene with a large number of police and controlled the protesters, who continued booing from the opposite pavement while they also sang their psalms and church hymns.”
How did the Witnesses finally escape from this tense situation? The local daily Eleftheria relates: “The district attorney for the First Court, Mr. Spiros Spiliopoulos . . . had to remain there for several hours, using all his . . . diplomatic abilities in order to disperse the crowds at about half past two in the afternoon, just as Jehovah’s Witnesses were about to leave the cinema, thus avoiding potential violence.”
The potential for violence on that occasion was well expressed in these words of a priest, quoted by the same source: “The next time the mayor gives the cinema to [the Witnesses], we will take our spades and smash everything!”
The Bishop Speaks
What did the higher church authorities think of this scandalous behavior of the priests and their followers? Eleftheria reported: “Our Most Reverend Bishop Seraphim made a statement in favor of the crowds of the faithful ones who took part in the demonstration.” The paper added that he “expressed his sincere joy for the dynamic presence of the [Orthodox] people and wholeheartedly wishes that the Lord will support and strengthen the faithful ones so that when the need arises, they can make their presence felt in a dynamic and effective way.”
The bishop criticized the town of Larisa for allowing the use of the cinema by the “enemies of the church and of our country for their antichrist assembly.” He then issued this veiled threat against the political authorities: “Our country, gentlemen, is officially an Orthodox nation, and its ministers do not have the right actively to support its enemies.” He added: “The Christian Orthodox people do not allow this and will not forgive their leaders for this.”
Press Reaction
Many Greek observers were disgusted by this further example of bigotry on the part of the Greek Orthodox Church. For decades the Witnesses have been subjected to persecution and humiliation at the hands of the clergy.
The local paper I Alithia published an article by Sarantos Vounatsos under the title “On the Fringes of Life—Acting Like Pharisees.” Commenting on the mob action, he asked: “Why all these things? And who were the leading characters? If I’m not mistaken, the [Witnesses] had some kind of meeting. And the others? Some priests and the mob that followed!”
Vounatsos continued: “‘Let [the Witnesses] be impaled,’ shouted the mob. But were these people, this mob, Christians? That’s what they shouted, and fanatically at that! And, unfortunately, their ‘leader’ was a raving . . . priest! He threatened, blasphemed, preached ostentatiously, and at one point he reminded one also of a ‘hijacker’ because as he displayed his watch he gave all those inside five minutes notice to leave the cinema, otherwise . . . the execution would begin! ‘Otherwise we will come in and smash their heads, my brothers,’ he was heard to say.”
The writer condemned the priestly action against the Witnesses and asked: “Why? Did they hurt you? How? With their meeting? Then why don’t you hold a meeting? Did they slap you? Then turn your other cheek! But you apply an eye for an eye! Why? Did they put a knife to your throat? And will you impose yourself with violence? It was a mistake to become a priest! . . . Do you wish to impose yourselves with acts of pharisees? Well, be careful, because if you continue, you will no longer have [God’s] mercy or grace, nor ours either.”
In July, the Athens Sunday paper Eleftherotipia published an article under the title: “Religious Persecutions: Greece Is Being Charged by Europe When Church Fanatics Burn, Threaten, Beat Up.” It noted that the foreign press has taken up the matter of freedom of worship in Greece. It quoted The Wall Street Journal of June 16, 1986, which published an article under the title “Greece’s Orthodox Church Suppresses Activists of Other Sects, They Charge.”
Eleftherotipia related that the Orthodox Church has an Anti-Heresy Department in Athens’ embassy district. In an office there, the priest Antonios Alevizopoulos “pens tracts against the activities of Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, all heretics in his view who ‘threaten the individual and society.’”
A Protestant missionary is quoted as saying that many hundreds have been arrested for proselytism in the past few years, “including 890 Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1983 alone.”
The same report in Eleftherotipia went on to list some of the atrocities perpetrated against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Greece. These included acts of arson against the homes of Witnesses, smashing of a lecture hall door and windows, and trying to break up Witness Bible meetings.
The culminating act was when a priest reportedly attacked a 76-year-old Witness in the street, resulting in the victim’s eventual death. Little wonder that the same paper noted “the fragility of religious freedom in the birthplace of democracy.”
Does it shock you to know that at this late date Greece, for centuries called ‘the cradle of democracy,’ should still see religious persecution and bigotry and that priests can stir up mobs? How is it possible that such a situation still exists in a country whose Constitution clearly allows religious freedom?
Archaic Law
What makes this possible is an archaic law that is still in existence, although not included in the Constitution. Back nearly a half century ago, in the late 1930’s, Greece, although a monarchy, was ruled by the dictator Metaxas. At that time a law was approved with a view to controlling the construction of places of worship that were not Greek Orthodox.
That old law included the following provision: “Anyone practicing proselytism is penalized with imprisonment and a fine.” But how was proselytism defined? That law stated: “The term ‘proselytism’ comprises the following: any direct or indirect attempt to penetrate the religious conscience of heterodox parties with a view to altering the content of their conscience.”
On the basis of that definition, it would be illegal even to discuss differences of belief! That could be considered ‘penetrating another’s religious conscience with a view to altering its content’! But to persecute and imprison law-abiding people for exchanging opinions on religion is a throwback to the Dark Ages. Nowhere today is such a degree of intolerance practiced in any other Western democracy.
The application of this antiquated law is causing great injustice to Jehovah’s Witnesses and others in Greece. And it is a great disservice to the fine principles of liberty guaranteed by the Constitution of Greece.
Court Cases in Crete
The issue of religious freedom also arose recently on Greece’s island province of Crete. There Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses instituted court proceedings for registration as a legally recognized association. That request was approved. But the bishops of Crete protested to the court and approval was withdrawn.
On what grounds? That the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses do not match the definition of what is a Christian as interpreted by the Greek Orthodox Church! But Jehovah’s Witnesses throughout the world are well known for being Christians who believe in Jesus Christ as the Redeemer, the divine Son of God, and who obey his teachings. That Jehovah’s Witnesses are a Christian religion has been so thoroughly established legally by governments worldwide that it makes the claim of the church absurd.
Jehovah’s Witnesses have appealed their case to a higher Greek court. They trust that true justice will prevail without the overbearing influence of the Greek Orthodox clergy.
As it stands, the proselytism law (and the decision of the Crete court) is an embarrassment to the government of Greece. It is also an embarrassment to the country’s international reputation as ‘the cradle of democracy.’
Thus, it is hoped that Greek jurisprudence will render a decision in harmony with their fine Constitution and with the principles of freedom of religion found in the Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations, to which Greece subscribes.