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Article: The "prevailing religion" in Greece: its meaning and implications.
- Article from:
- Journal of Church and State
- Article date:
- June 22, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 J.M. Dawson Studies in Church and State. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In the section dealing with ecclesiastical matters, Greek legal textbooks have traditionally noted that the right to religious liberty guaranteed in the various Greek constitutions is not absolute but relative due to the existence of a "prevailing religion."(1) Article 3 of the Greek Constitution states: "The prevailing religion in Greece is that of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ."(2) The interpretation of this term, both in terms of legal theory as well as its development in case law, however, not only seems to violate the constitutional guarantees to equality and religious liberty,(3) but also seems to disregard the various European and international conventions ...