The wall and the crisis

The proposal of erecting a wall on the border with Turkey to fight illegal immigration, the policy of cuts in the public sector and increasing taxes to address the serious financial crisis, the social tensions that are expressed with ongoing strikes: Greece continues being in the limelight at international level and as a EU Member State. SIR addressed the situation in Greece with the President of Greek Catholic bishops Msgr. Francesco Papamanolis.Your Excellency, how do you view the Government’s decision to erect a wall on the border with Turkey to prevent illegal entry to Greece? “As bishops we oppose this decision. The wall should not physically prevent free movement. It’s an unneeded expense for kilometers of border. The wall brings to mind separation, division. It’s a decision that the public opinion is not taking seriously into account, despite few exceptions, such as three radical Orthodox bishops. The problem is the very fact of imagining that migration questions could be solved in this way. Evidently, the experience of Cyprus and Berlin has not been acknowledged. History is an excellent teacher, but men fail to learn the lesson”.A large number of immigrants are Catholic. This led to an increased number of faithful for the Catholic Church…“Over the past 10 years Catholics in Greece increased by 700% – from 50 thousand to 350 thousand -. But now we are witnessing a downward trend, caused by the economic crisis. In fact, many are leaving again. Catholics are fewer, although it isn’t evident yet. The phenomenon of immigration changed the image of the Catholic Church in the Country, which requires a change in mindset. Older faithful must understand that also Catholic migrants are members of our community. Language is also a problem, given the Country of origin of many migrants, along with the lack of priests. We always confide in the support of European bishops’ conferences. We receive pastoral help only from Poland. Difficulties remain the same, along with a more serious lack of spaces and organization”.What is the situation as regards the financial crisis? “We continue to suffer. The building sector is among the most affected, with high numbers of immigrant workers. Negative repercussions are experienced also in related industrial sectors. Figures released by the Government show that unemployment rates reached 14%”. How is the population reacting?“Citizens’ perception is that the Government seems unable to handle the crisis that has hit the Country, all it does is to overtax labourers and civil servants, i.e., the weaker brackets. Rather than hostility, this attitude can be best described as the government’s political incapacity. Or indeed, this is the view of the population. Cuts and taxes are not enough, since a thorough reform project is lacking. In Athens each day there’s a strike, mostly involving public transports”.What is the Church’s position before the difficulties caused by the crisis?“The crisis is so serious that a month ago the Orthodox Church released a statement asking the Government to be more attentive to the needs of the weaker brackets in the Country. The government’s reaction was brusque. Everyone has their own duty – was the response – there must be no interference. It is not the task of the Church to deal with politics. This is true even though the Church, the Orthodox Church in particular, is dearly suffering the consequences of the crisis”.How?“The Government has decided to cut the number of civil servants. Only one person will be hired every five available posts resulting from early retirement or for other reasons. The cut in public staff involves also the Orthodox Church, whose priests receive a salary from the government and are thus civil servants. Thus the government has asked Orthodox bishops not to ordain new priests. There can be no more that one new ordination every five retiring ones. In the past days the Holy Synod has met to discuss this problem. Indeed, the government requires that Orthodox parishes, considered public bodies, make money deposit only at the Greek national bank, so as to avoid paying interests on the deposited sums. As Catholics we don’t fall within these measures as we are not remunerated by the State”.