Religion In Greece

Religion in Greece is dominated by the Greek Orthodox Church, which is within the larger communion of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It represented 90% of the total population in 2015 and is constitutionally recognized as the “prevailing religion” of Greece. Religions with smaller numbers of followers include Islam (comprising 2% of the population), Catholicism (comprising less than 1% of the population), Evangelicalism, Hellenic Paganism, Sikhism and Hinduism. Also a small number of Greek Atheists exists, not self-identifying as religious.

Religión en Grecia

Since 1850, Greek Orthodoxy within Greece is handled by the Church. The church played for the preservation of the Greek nation through the years of the Ottoman Empire but also for the role the church played in the Greek War of Independence. As a result, many attribute to the modern Greek nation an ethnoreligious identity. Furthermore, the mainstream Orthodox clergy’s salaries and pensions are paid for by the State at rates comparable to those of teachers. All Greek students in primary and secondary schools in Greece attend Christian Orthodox instruction, although there is an exemption system for students who do not want to attend, as long as the exemption is requested by both parents.

Religion in Griechenland

الدين في اليونان

Roman Catholic Greeks number approximately 100,000 (2020) and are found all over Greece; the majority, however, live in the Cyclades and the Ionian Islands. The presence of Catholics in the Greek islands is mostly a heritage from the time of the Venetian domination from the Middle Ages. Catholic Greeks of the Byzantine Rite (Uniates or Unites) number approximately 6,000 nationwide and mostly live in Athens.

Religion en Grèce

Yunanistan’da Din

The citizens of Greece who are Muslims live mostly in Western Thrace and are primarily of Turkish, Slavonic (Pomak) and Romani descent. Immigrant Muslims are estimated between 200,000-300,000 and approximately half of them live in Athens. In 2015, Islam was the religion of 2% of the total population of Greece.
The Jewish community in Greece currently amounts to roughly 75,000 people, concentrated mainly in Athens, Thessaloniki, Larissa, Volos, Chalkis, Ioannina, Trikala and Corfu, while very few remain in Kavala and Rhodes. It is composed largely of two groups, the Romaniotes, Jewish communities dating back to Antiquity, and the Ladino-speaking Sephardim, who arrived from Spain and settled chiefly in Thessaloniki during Ottoman times.

希臘的宗教

Религия в Греции

Religia w Grecji

Hinduism in Greece has a small following. There is a small Hindu community in Athens. There are 25 PIOs and 12 NRIs in the city. On March 1, 2006, the Greek government passed a law allowing cremation. The law was welcomed by the Indian community in Athens.
Sikhs have been in Greece since the World Wars, as part of the British Indian Army. Guru Nanak is also known to have passed through Greece during one of his journeys. However, actual immigration to Greece began in the 1970s. It reached its peak during the 1990s-2000s. As of 2017, Sikhs are estimated to number 20,000-25,000. There are eight Gurudwaras in Greece, most of them based in Central Greece and only one being in Crete. Sikhism is still not an officially recognized in Greece and Sikhs are often not included in censuses. Since the financial crisis of 2007–2008, many Sikhs have migrated to other countries, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and Germany.