The clerics are rejecting the draft announced yesterday by the Ministry of Education regarding the implementation of the State-Church agreement.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, it is a plan to devalue the clergy and Greek Orthodoxy in general. It is a simple rewording, rehashing the draft with more insubstantial and formalistic clauses of the original proposal that had been dismissed months ago by the Association of Clergy of Greece.
According to the announcement of Association of Clergy of Greece, the new government proposal cut the clergy off the Single Paying Authority “which will henceforth be referred to as “Payroll of the Church of Greece”, to which we will now be subject and from which we will be paid according to this unacceptable draft.
Therefore, according to the draft, clergy are removed from the Common Salary Table (Clerics) and the Special Salary Table (Protopriests) since the Single Payment Authority disclaims any other responsibility since the payment will be made through an annual state subsidy. It is a supposedly new draft with fictional changes to make good impression to the general public. The draft is rehashed in order to mislead clergy and their families.”
The Association of Clergy of Greece clarifies that it holds firmly to its positions as regards the payment regime of the clergy and the other issues included in the draft.
