A cardio-thoracic surgeon complains about religious discrimination
Former Minister of Justice Fotis Kouvelis still expecting an answer from Minister of Health to his parliamentary question
Willy Fautr, Human Rights Without Frontiers
HRWF International Secretariat (30.11.2001) - Website: www.hrwf.net/ Email: info@hrwf.net - MEP and former Minister of Justice Fotis Kouvelis has asked a parliamentary question (Nr 1766, 2/10/01) concerning a case of alleged religious discrimination against a medical doctor but until now Minister of Health has failed to give him an answer.
For numerous months, the Minister of Health has been refusing to sign the employment papers concerning the appointment of Dr. Georges Cosmopoulos as the head of the department of thoracic surgery at the Anticancer Hospital of Athens (under the authority of an Orthodox agency) although the scientific council of the National Health System elected him with 6 votes against 1 (the manager of the hospital). "This is the last episode of a long series of discrimination acts because I am a member of the Apostolic Church of Christ, a Protestant denomination, he told Human Rights Without Frontiers.
In 1992, Dr. Georges Cosmopoulos was fired from the Athens Hospital (private medical institution) on the grounds of his public Evangelical activities because the Greek Intelligence Service had blacklisted him as a heretic, a foreign agent and an enemy of the Greek Nation. He remained workless during three years. On 5 August 1993, the daily paper Eleftherotypia published the top secret list drafted by the EYP, the Greek Intelligence Service: more than 30 Protestant organizations and churches were filed as enemies of Greece. This year, Dr. Georges Cosmopoulos was summoned by the Military Court of Athens because he had allegedly not performed military service ... 30 years ago. Fortunately, he could prove that he had fulfilled his military obligations in conformity with the Greek law although he was in South Africa at that time.
Dr George Cosmopoulos (51) is a cardio-thoracic surgeon. He is married and has four children. He made studies (1969-1975) at the Athens Medical School and post-graduate studies at the same school (1976-1977), at the University of Cape Town and at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg (1977-1983). He practiced surgery in South Africa (1983-1988) and in Greece (1988-2001). During his stay in South Africa, Dr Cosmopoulos served in famous places such as Baragwanth University Hospital of Johannesburg and the Groote Schuur Hospital of Cape Town, where the first heart transplant operation was carried out by Prof. Christian and Marius Barnard. Back in Greece, his situation changed dramatically. In 1995, he was elected for a medium rank post of cardio-thoracic surgeon at the Athens Childrens Hospital of Agia Sogia. Subsequently, his applications for the post of head of a thoracic surgery department were turned down by five hospitals, despite his professional experience. He was also inflicted disciplinary penalties by the Medical Doctors Association because of his protests.
He is currently Commisary A at the Athens Children Hospital Agia Sofia and he was elected head of the Department of Thoracic Surgery at the National Institute Agios Sava Hospital in Athens.
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Pentecostals prosecuted on grounds of proselytism
George Cosmopoulos (HRWF correspondent)
HRWF International Secretariat (21.11.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - On the 4th of December 2001, 14 members of the Free Apostolic Church of Pentecost of Greece in the small city of Gastouni (Western Peloponesia), including the Pastor, are to be presented in the Regional Court of the city of Amaliada.
The Free Apostolic Church of Pentecost of Greece is the biggest Pentecostal Church in the Country. Pastor Antonis Galanis and the above members of the local congregation have been officially accused of proselytism by the local Bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church Mr Germanos.
The defendants' attorney is Mr. Tsirbas.
The accused ask protests to be sent to the Minister of Justice (minjust@otenet.gr ) and to the Prime Minister (mail@primeminister.gr)
Greece officially declares Jehovahs Witnesses to be a known religion
HRWF International Secretariat (30.06.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - A more liberal approach to freedom of worship is reflected in a key decision reached in Greece. For years Jehovah's Witnesses in that nation had to resort to the courts to establish their right to worship freely. This may be a thing of the past.
An official document from the Ministry of National Education and Religions, dated June 13, stated regarding the government position: "The administrative practice fully respects the case-law of National Courts and the European Court of Human Rights, in the framework of the established individual right of religious freedom." How this position improves the status of minority faiths is seen in the successive comments: "The said administrative practice ascertains that Christian Jehovah's Witnesses are considered by the administration as a known religion under article 13 of the Constitution, with all legal consequences resulting therefrom."
There are more than 27,500 Jehovah's Witnesses in Greece.
Greek church causes fresh identity crisis
by Helena Smith
The Guardian (29.08.2001)/ HRWF International Secretariat (03.09.2001) - Website: www.hrwf.net/ Email: info@hrwf.net -- Greece's powerful Orthodox church careered towards a head-on collision with the government last night after its spiritual leader gave a fire-and-brimstone speech denouncing Athens' decision to drop any reference to religion from state identity cards. Archbishop Christodoulos, presenting a petition with 3m signatures - more than a quarter of the population - to the ruling Socialist government, demanded a referendum on the issue. "The church has been treated with contempt," he said. "Over half of the active population of Greece support us."
Priests have been collecting signatures since last year, often pressing guests at funerals, weddings and religious services to join the "holy war".
But the government, which passed the legislation to bring Greek privacy laws in line with European Union standards, rejected the appeal.
"The issue is closed," its spokesman, Dimitris Reppas, said. In March Greece's highest administrative court ruled that putting religious affiliation on the compulsory identity cards was unconstitutional. Religious minorities have long complained of discrimination in overwhelmingly Orthodox Greece.
However, the government's stance is unlikely to stop the church's protests. The lines between church and state are blurred in Greece and Orthodox clerics fear that their power will be eroded by the directive. They have hinted
that they might take to the streets to oppose the change.
Christodoulos last week fuelled the row by questioning the ability of the reformist prime minister, Costas Simitis, to run Greece, calling him a pale imitation of his predecessor, the late Andreas Papandreou. Mr Simitis's popularity has dropped in recent months, not least amonghis own MPs. Commentators said that the timing of the attack amounted to an implicit call by Christodoulos for the overthrow of the government. The conservative opposition and press are behind the archbishop, who has drawn support from Greeks worst hit by the global economic downturn and cutbacks in the state sector.
Trial of Lazaros Petromelides
HRWF (18.06.2001)/ HRWF International Secretariat (18.06.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - On 5 June 2001 Lazaros Petromelides appeared before the Military Appeal Court in Athens charged with "desertion during a period of extended general mobilisation of the armed forces".
The witnesses for the defence were:
- Nicos Constantopoulos, Member of Parliament, Chair of the Coalition of the Left (6 members)
- Antonis Skyllakos, Member of Parliament for the Communist Party (11 members)
- Popi Lykovardi, lawyer, representing the Citizens' Ombudsman
- Nicos Alivizatos, Professor of Constitutional Law at Athens University
- Claude Verrel, representing EBCO/BEOC
- Michalis Marangakis, first CO for ideological reasons in Greece; he spent 20 months in prison in the 80's.
The trial was adjourned once again. Noting the absence of the officer listed as witness for the prosecution, the court sentenced him to a small fine and decided, contrary to the wish expressed by Petromelides in favour of the trial going ahead, to adjourn it until the end of the year.
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Student's dismissal from school on religious grounds
HRWF International Secretariat (30.05.2001)/Website: www.hrwf.net / Email: info@hrwf.net - A 14-years student has been dismissed from school as being a non-Orthodox and not participating at the official morning prayer at school. A popular Greek T.V. programme broadcasted nationwide reported on the case on 24 May. The students father, a non-Orthodox himself, protested against the religious discrimination experienced by non-Orthodox students at schools in Greece.
The Greek Constitution establishes the Eastern Orthodox Church as official religion in the country. Orthodox religious instruction at public and secondary schools is mandatory for all Greek Orthodox schools. Though non-Orthodox students are exempt from this requirement, there have been reports on cases of discrimination related to non-attendance of religious classes.
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Why the Greek Orthodox oppose papal visit
Interview with Theologian Yannis Spiteris
WRNS (01.05.2001) HRWF International Secretariat (04.05.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - At least one theologian is optimistic about the outcome of the Popes visit to Athens, Greece, this Wednesday and Thursday.
"The atmosphere is hostile, but John Paul II s trip will leave a profound mark," said Greek-Catholic theologian and Capuchin friar Yannis Spiteris. "It will serve to demystify the anti-papal climate rooted in Greece for centuries."
In recent days, protests in Greece have mounted against the Popes visit. Orthodox monks at Mount Athos have held a prayer vigil to ward off the Pope s arrival.
Cardinal Ignace Moussa Daoud, who normally would accompany the Pontiff as prefect of the Holy Sees Congregation for Oriental or Eastern Churches, will not be with John Paul II after certain leaders of the Greek Orthodox Church said "no" to his presence in the papal entourage. The newly created cardinal, former patriarch of Antioch for Syrian Catholics, is persona non grata to many Orthodox because he is an Eastern Catholic.
In the following interview with the Vatican agency Fides, Father Spiteris spoke about what awaits the Pope.
--Q: How did the Pope s idea to visit Athens develop?
--Father Spiteris: Before the Jubilee, in his letter "Pilgrimage to the Places Linked with the History of Salvation," Pope John Paul II expressed his desire to visit the Areopagus where St. Paul the Apostle once preached.
The Catholic Church made an official request but the Greek Orthodox Church refused under various pretexts. The Holy Synod said the Pope would have to ask forgiveness for offenses committed by Catholics in history, for the Fourth Crusade in 1204; he would have to withdraw some Catholic truths of faith, in other words, convert to Orthodoxy, or come as a head of state.
The visit seemed impossible. But earlier this year when Greek President Stephanopoulos visited the Pope in Rome, he invited him to come to Athens. The Orthodox Church had little choice. To avoid clashes with the government the Holy Synod agreed, making clear with a public statement that the Pope of Rome was coming as a head of state to make a personal pilgrimage.
--Q: What are the historical facts at the root of this opposition?
--Father Spiteris: Greek Orthodoxy has always rejected the West, since the time of the Byzantine Empire. Before the fall of Constantinople in 1453 there was a saying: "Better the Turkish turban than the Papal tiara."
Schoolbooks are still full of resentment. Children are brought up to hate the Catholic Church. There is a collective anti-Catholic, anti-Pope culture. Anti-Catholic atmosphere became more acute recently with the question of Oriental Catholics and the recent war in the Balkans.
Greek Catholics, who have existed for centuries, have never been accepted by the Greek Orthodox community. In 1900 under Stalin they were incorporated into the Orthodox Church. With the fall of Communism they reclaimed their properties, which had been confiscated by the state. The Orthodox consider them traitors, the result of Catholic proselytism.
During the Balkan war the Orthodox Church supported Serbia. Milosevic has property and money in Greece. They even accused the Pope of supplying arms to the Muslims to fight "our Serb brothers." Greece has always felt persecuted by the West.
--Q: What are the main problems at the theological level?
In theology the most serious difficulty is that Orthodox bishops and theologians do not recognize Catholic sacraments as valid, whereas the Catholic Church does recognize those of the Orthodox Church, considered a "sister Church," as Vatican II stated.
For the Orthodox, unless the Church believes in the "full truth of faith," its sacraments cannot be valid. The bishop of Corfu says the Church of Rome is a "worldly organization." Other problems are the "filioque" in the Creed, that is, whether the Holy Spirit descends from the Father or from the Father and the Son; the primacy of the Pope; Marian dogmas of the second millennium.
--Q: Are there other reasons?
These historical and theological problems could be overcome if the Greek Orthodox Church were not divided and polluted by fundamentalism. Radicals refuse ecumenism, dialogue, the sister-Church concept; they see the Pope as the root of all evil. Many Orthodox bishops think they are more Orthodox if they are more anti-Catholic.
There are para-church organizations which oppose even the official Orthodox Church, besides being strongly anti-Catholic. The archbishop of Athens fears the latter may take advantage of the papal visit to attack the official Orthodox Church and gain ground.
There are those who refuse the new Gregorian calendar accepted by the Greek Church and government at the beginning of 1900. They are about 1 million and they are separate from the official Church and have their own bishops. This old-calendar Church claims that its numbers are growing, thanks to conversions of Orthodox faithful. The archbishop of Athens was not in favor of the Popes visit, fearing it might accentuate the divisions in the Orthodox Church.
--Q: What do the people think?
--Father Spiteris: There are 45,000 native Greek Catholics and with Poles, Filipinos, Italians they are about 200,000. We are considered second-rate citizens. We do not have the same rights as the Orthodox; we suffer discrimination, despite the constitution.
Many are afraid to baptize their children as Catholics, because of the difficulties they will encounter in life. There are still hidden Catholics, which is absurd in a democratic country, a member of the European Union.
For us the Pope s visit will be a source of great encouragement and comfort. The Pope is aware of the sufferings of Greek Catholics. We love our homeland and we suffer because we are not recognized as true sons and daughters of Greece.
--Q: Why is this?
--Father Spiteris: Greeks are always Orthodox; Catholics are "foreigners." Religion is identified with nationality. This is why the Orthodox Church insisted that religion should remain on identity papers. This linking of the state with religion is a legacy from Byzantine times. The empire was seen as an exterior form of the Church, the emperor was the vicar of Christ.
Still today, Orthodox Church laws are published in the official state bulletin. This is why Catholics have no rights; the Catholic Church in Greece has no juridical status. The battle went as far as the European Court in Strasbourg, and the Catholic Church in Greece won. The Greek government had to accept the European Courts ruling and recognize the properties of the Greek Catholic Church, although without granting it juridical status.
Greece wants to be a modern secular state. President Stephanopoulos is open-minded and has great moral intelligence, although he is opposed by the New Democracy, which focuses on nationalism.
The Catholic Church in Greece must play the game of the European Union, pushing for a secular, free, independent and modern state. The Orthodox Church despises Europe, but accepts its funds, welcoming a recent EU contribution for the upkeep of the Mount Athos shrine.
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Greek Archbishop's 'Jews' claim a 'harmful lie'
says government (Kathimerini)
Greek Helsinki Monitor (20.03.2001)/ HRWF International Secretariat (22.03.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - The government yesterday accused the leader of the Church of Greece of lying and of harming Greece's image with his claim last week that "the Jews" had forced the government to drop the mention of religion from state-issued identity cards.
"It is unreal to claim that someone else imposed this decision," government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said. "I believe that such a claim, besides being absolutely false, causes problems for the country's international image, given that, among other things, it casts doubt on the democratic conscience of Greek citizens."
In an interview with To Vima on Thursday, Archbishop Christodoulos asked, "Do you know who is behind the identity card matter?... The Jews." He said that he had discovered this on the World Jewish Council web site on the Internet.
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A cardiothoracic surgeon to be sentenced by a military court for insubordination 24 years later!
A strange case of antireligious harassment
HRWF International Secretariat (14.03.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - On Friday 16 March, Dr George Cosmopoulos, cardiothoracic surgeon at the Children's Hospital "Agia Sophia", will appear "spontaneously" before a military court in Athens on the grounds of an insubordination act supposed to have been committed in 1977.
Dr George Cosmopoulos has been informed today that a warrant for immediate arrest has been issued against him by the Public Prosecutor of the Military Court of Athens. If he does not appear in court, he will be arrested and jailed until a new date has been fixed for his trial.
In 1977, Dr George Cosmopoulos was doing some cardiothoracic training in South Africa when he was called up. In 1981, he came back to Greece and performed military service, fulfilling legally all his military obligations.
Interviewed by Human Rights Without Frontiers, Dr Cosmopoulos said: "I am a member of the Apostolic Church of Christ, a Protestant denomination, and I was the leader of Agape, a Protestant association. The Greek Intelligence Service (EYP) has blacklisted that church, and myself as a heretic, a foreign agent, an enemy of the Greek nation."
During his stay in South Africa, Dr Cosmopoulos served in famous places such as Groote Schuur Hospital of Cape Town, where the first heart transplant operation was carried out by Prof. Christian and Marius Barnard, and Baragwanth University Hospital of Johannesburg.
"During the last two years, I have tried to obtain a scientifically independent post of Head of Department of Thoracic Surgery, having all the qualifications in at least five hospitals but my application was illegally rejected in all the cases", said Dr Cosmopoulos.
On 29 September 2000, Dr Cosmopoulos complained to the Minister of Health about various other acts of discrimination against him.
Dr Cosmopoulos is married and has four children.
Please send messages of support to
Dr George C. Cosmopoulos: Phone 30 1 9649970 - Fax: 30 93 7667005
Send messages of protest to
Minister of Justice, Mr Stathopoulos: Phone 30 1 7708961 or 7709660 - Fax: 30 1 7755835
Minister of Defence, Mr A. Tsohatzopoulos: Phone: 30 1 6544053 - Fax: 30 1 6443832
Prime Minister, Mr K. Simitis: mail@primeminister.gr
NOTE: After our campaign, Dr George C. Cosmopoulos presented himself spontaneously at the Military Court and was cleared of all charges.
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