In an interview for the SKAI TV station, Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Messinia spoke today about current issues.
Metropolitan Chrysostomos referred to the meeting that Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and all Greece held with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Minister of Education Niki Kerameus. He also spoke about Church-State relations matters such as ecclesiastical education and religion lessons in schools.
Asked to answer if this is the beginning of a new phase in Church-State relations, the Metropolitan replied, “I believe that these two meetings are a positive development in the issue of Church-State relations and also confirm that the PM and the Education Minister are consistent.”
“The Prime Minister and the Archbishop are the guarantors of this new dialogue to be established between the Church and the State,” Metropolitan Chrysostomos added. He clarified that the previous Church-State debate is no longer valid.
The Metropolitan of Messinia stressed that there were too many problems that needed to be discussed, such as the ecclesiastical education, the permanent posts of priests, and the religious lesson in schools.
“The issue of religious lesson in schools cannot be discussed unless the Council of State issues a ruling in relation to the appeals lodged against the Presidential Decrees issued by Gavroglu,” Metropolitan Chrysostomos said.
“The present government, even when it was in the opposition, has never maintained opposite position from the one officially stated by the Hierarchy. I think there is a very good positive spirit and there are basic constitutional and institutional principles that we can discuss,” noted the Metropolitan of Messinia.
The Metropolitan asked whether there was satisfaction within the Hierarchy, he replied, “This is now a common line among the Hierarchs.”
