Archbishop of Athens and all Greece Ieronymos sent an open letter to the Greek Parliament and Greek Prime Minister commenting on international media reports on the Greek Orthodox Church being exempt from taxation.
The purpose of his letter is, according to Ieronymos, to improve the Church’s image abroad. He also claims that editors working all over the world have never contacted the Church to be personally and directly informed about the taxation of the churches and monasteries located all over the country.
Archbishop of Athens stresses that taxation exemption was abolished under a 2010 law. Since then, clergymen pay their taxes as every other Greek citizen, continues Ieronymos.
The Greek state has been responsible for the clergy payroll since 1833 while the Greek Orthodox Church has given a major part of its real estate property to several Greek municipalities. According to the letter, their current property is mostly forest areas not appropriate for the construction of any structure.
As for the Church’s revenues, Ieronymos says that they come from few buildings owned by Greek Orthodox Church, some bank shares and donations provided by loyal Christians.
Last but not least, Archbishop Ieronymos reports every single charity institution and organization owned and run by the Church, including orphanages, hospitals, kindergartens and much more.
On the other hand, EU Observer’s Nikolaj Nielsen wrote a detailed article on the Greek Orthodox Church’s exemption from taxes. For more information, follow this link: https://greekreporter.com/2012/07/14/eus-greek-orthodox-head-says-church-is-unfairly-accused-of-tax-scandals/
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
