A dispute is simmering between the Catholic archdiocese and the Greek Ministry of Culture. The bone of contention is the work on the restoration of the cathedral of St. Dionysius the Areopagite, in Athens, following the earthquake of September 1999 which caused considerable damage both inside and outside the church. A statement recently published on the website of the archdiocese (www.cathecclesia.gr) declares that in spite of “repeated contacts with the Minister of Culture, Evangelos Venizelos, over the five years that have elapsed since the quake, and the minister’s assurance that the cathedral (in the neoclassical style) would be inserted in the list of the monuments damaged by the quake, and hence in need of restoration, no formal reply has yet been received”. The Ministry, says the statement, “had also sent inspectors to meet the Commission set up by the Archdiocese for the reconstruction of the church”. The meeting gave rise to a restoration project, funded in part by the Ministry. It still awaits approval. To this day, the cathedral of Athens remains the only neoclassical building not included in the list of damaged monuments. “Is it perhaps because the cathedral belongs to the Catholic Church?” is the rhetorical question with which the statement concludes.
