Greek Tragedy or Gestation Period: Future of the Modern Church in Greece

Abstract

Liliana Adamaku joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Europe years before she met her Greek husband in Yugoslavia. Though Liliana's husband was very nonreligious, he was adamant that he was a good member of the Greek Orthodox Church. After her marriage and the birth of two children, the Adamakus moved to Thessaloniki, Greece. Though Liliana was a practicing Latter-day Saint when they moved to Greece her husband told her: “Don't mention it, don't talk about it, don't do anything. Don't practice it.” For him, part of that reasoning was that they would be living in his Greek Orthodox mother's house and if she discovered Liliana was LDS, she and her children would be thrown out on the street.When James William and Diane H. Pyper were called as senior missionaries to open Thessaloniki in 1991 they tried to contact the few Latter-day Saints living in the area, including Liliana Adamaku. Liliana was very specific about the time the Pypers could call her, where they could meet her, and how to meet her. They were to come when her husband was at work, her mother-in-law was gone, her oldest was at school, and her youngest was napping. She asked them to dress like tourists and take a bus. Giving instructions on how to walk to her home from the bus, she warned that “behind every curtain, and every shutter somebody is watching.” Because she was a schoolteacher who taught English, she felt that if her neighbors knew she was being visited by missionaries she would lose her job.The minute the Pypers entered the home, curtains were drawn. Liliana then showed them a dresser drawer, where behind a bunch of clothes she concealed a Book of Mormon, only read when she was home alone. As Elder Pyper blessed the sacrament, and she partook for the first time in years, “she lit up and was overjoyed.” The Pypers visited her several times under the same conditions, and that's how she lived the gospel in Greece.1Missionaries like the Pypers were part of the Greece Athens Mission that existed for just twenty-eight short years from July 1, 1990, to July 1, 2018. With the closing of the mission as a separate entity in 2018—putting the nation of Greece under the jurisdiction of the Adriatic South Mission—missionary work in Greece could be viewed as a sad failure or a Greek tragedy. Part of that breakdown was induced by the opposition missionaries faced from the culture, identity, and influence of the Greek Orthodox Church (GOC) on both the Greek people and the government of Greece. Many LDS see much of eastern Europe with slow growth rates, such as found in Greece, as hanging on by a thread with great difficulty in even sustaining church membership. However, another way one could view the history of the Greece Athens Mission is to see it as a seed-planting era instead, where the efforts of missionaries like the Pypers, and members like Adamaku have not yet born fruit. Looking at the initial mission in Greece as a period of gestation, it is hoped that the church can eventually not only sustain membership, but grow to the point of creating its own mission once again. Part of this incubation period would include a decrease in the prejudice and opposition imposed by the influence of the Greek Orthodox Church. Optimists might even see early efforts during the twenty-first century as being greatly multiplied, and that in some future day the church could even rise like a phoenix being independent in that nation.It is interesting to note that the church's initial inroads in the country coincided with Greece joining the European Union in 1981. Despite this development, the status of the Greek Orthodox Church as the prevailing religion undermined missionary work in Greece, both through negative attitudes and discriminatory statutes. In the twenty-first century, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints still tries to overcome religious discrimination brought on by the connection between the GOC and the Greek state. Yet even with government changes, the Greeks are reluctant to leave the church that is so closely connected to their culture.As with many countries, the Greek Orthodox Church was the official state religion since Greece received independence from Turkey in 1832. While the country had new constitutions, everyone accepted “the Orthodox Church as the ‘prevailing religion.’” This was based on “the traditional Byzantine understanding of church-state ‘harmony’ as well as in recognition of the important role played by the GOC in preserving Greek identity during the period of Ottoman rule.” This remained a “constant tension . . . with some constitutions establishing a regime only of religious tolerance for non-Orthodox creeds, while others guaranteed full religious freedom.”2This special privilege started to change according to Kyriakos N. Kyriazopoulos, professor of ecclesiastical law at Aristotle University: “In decisions handed down in 1976 and 1978, the Highest Administrative Court of Greece (the Council of State), ruled that the separation of church and state, which the current constitution—for the first time ever—attempted to establish, remained incomplete.”3 Even so as Adamantia Pollis, Princeton professor of political science wrote, the problem of “institutionalizing democratic structures and processes became compounded by the theology of Greek Orthodoxy and the Church's relationship to the state.”4Some of that started to change when Greece applied for membership in the European Union. According to George Kaloudis, professor of political science and history at Rivier University in Nashua, “democratization was a requirement that had to be satisfied for Greece to join the European Union community in 1981.” The change was difficult: “Greece became enmeshed in a complex network of regional institutions, commercial exchanges, political pressures, party linkages, treaty obligations, citizen contacts, and normative expectations that reward conformity to democracy and punish transgressions from it.”5 As a result, the Greek government grappled for the next two decades with its relationship to the state church and the European view that the relationship limited religious freedom. In 1993, Pollis found that the Greek government “restrictions on the exercise of religious freedom [were] violat[ing] the European Convention on Human Rights and the underlying values of the European Community, and charges [were] brought against Greece before the European Commission and the European Court of Human Rights.”6 These organizations ruled a distinction needed to be made between religious belief and manifestations and that limitations of freedom concerned only the manifestations of particular religions, not religious belief itself. In the decision, the court made it clear that “no one can be punished solely for belonging to a religious group.”7One of the main issues was the mandatory statement of religious affiliation on Greek identification cards. Evangelos Karagiannis, professor of anthropology at the University of Vienna, found that the issue of identity cards escalated to the highest crisis between the state and church. The state held that religious affiliation should not appear on identity cards, while the Greek Orthodox Church lobbied for continued use of the labels. Each side challenged the other's authority to decide the issue.8In 1993, Pollis also argued that because Orthodoxy is central to being Greek, those Greek citizens of another religion were not viewed as sharing a national identity and were “not an integral part of the spiritual community, or the ethnos.” Consequently, he found “those of other religions were being denied liberties and privileges that were specifically accrued to those deemed to be Greek.”9On April 22, 1993, a resolution by the European Parliament addressed a plea to the Greek government not to give in to all the pressures that the GOC exerted. The thrust of the resolution was that the European Parliament did not recognize the institutional role of the Orthodox hierarchy within the Greek state but rather viewed the Orthodox Church in Greece as a nonstate pressure group. The parliament continued that no matter what social role any church might have in a society, it did not justify requiring individuals to list their religious affiliations on an identity card. It asked the Greek government to respect religious freedom following European Union guidelines and that the country move away from having a prevailing religion.10 Because every Greek constitution has recognized the Orthodox Church as the “prevailing religion,” the GOC felt they had a case to continue that recognition.By 2001, Greece was torn between its notion of a prevailing religion and its commitment to religious freedom in accordance with European and international obligations. As Alonzo Gaskill, professor of church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University, observes, “From a governmental standpoint, [Greece has] gone down the road of a very nondemocratic approach to other faiths. . . . In Greece, there are only four acknowledged religions of the country. You have religions that exist but do not have government support, and Orthodoxy [is] . . . the only Christian denomination acknowledged.”11 Kyriazopoulos concurs that “the prevailing religion is the official religion that enjoys special privileged treatment.”12Even if the Greek Orthodox Church was the formal religion of the majority, and even if Greeks did not accept the trend for the priority of the European law over the Greek constitution, Kyriazopoulos believed there had to be a systematic interpretation of the respective provisions of the Greek constitution—that the defective system of favoritism and preference for the Orthodox Church at the expense of other faiths was a breach of the domestic legal order.13 During heated debates in the 2000s, he argued that education in the schools would counter the discriminatory practices resulting from the recognition of the GOC as the prevailing religion. He asserted that educational reforms would foster a culture of tolerance concerning religion and belief, providing a revitalization of religious freedom among minority creeds.The adoption of religious freedom measures as proposed by Kyriazopoulos, the European Union, and other critics would presumably have led Greece to a more favorable reception of LDS missionary work; however, this positive response did not happen. Instead, at the time that missionaries were assigned to Greece, Greece's legal bias for the GOC was encouraging general intolerance and discrimination against any creeds aside from Greek Orthodoxy, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.The LDS Church had very little interaction with Greece until the 1950s “when Greek-American Church members in Salt Lake City organized the Hellenic Latter-day Saint Society to retain their heritage and maintain ties with their homelands,” wanting to be identified as both Greek and LDS.14 Over the following decades, a few Latter-day Saints participated in a number of diplomatic exchanges, including visits to Greece by Ezra Taft Benson in 1965 and 1967 to organize a small branch in Athens. The branch had just eight Greek members along with seventy American members, including U.S. servicemen, embassy officials, and their families.15Then, in September 1972, President Harold B. Lee and Elder Gordon B. Hinckley toured England, Europe, and the Middle East. They visited Mars Hill in Greece to formally dedicate the land for missionary work.16 Hinckley prayed that the “hearts of the leaders of this nation would be softened . . . [and] the restored gospel may be taught here with power and testimony.” Six years later the church assigned three couples and a young elder to Greece.17 A year later, Greek convert Sissy Campbell assisted in translating parts of the Book of Mormon.18 All of these efforts helped plant seeds for the church to grow. Yet there was the continued question of the relationship between the Greek Orthodox Church and the Greek government and people.Kyriazopoulos, the European Union, and other critics proposed religious freedoms that presumably could have led Greece to a more favorable reception of the Latter-day Saints’ missionary work. However, this positive response did not happen. Instead, at the time that missionaries were assigned to the country in 1987, Greece's legal bias for the Greek Orthodox Church was encouraging general intolerance and discrimination against any other churches.Initially, missionaries were assigned to the Austria Vienna Mission. With an increasing number of those serving, church leaders split the Austria Vienna Mission and formed the Austria Vienna East Mission that included Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Greece, with Egypt, Cyprus, and Turkey added two months later. Dennis B. Neuenschwander was the mission president (1987–1991).19 He commented that “every year the baptisms doubled and tripled as the missionaries became aware of how they could work in the culture.”20 Reporter Scott Taylor wrote in the Deseret News: “Missionaries spread out in the countries, often not wearing name tags and sometimes not even typical missionary attire. They were starting conversations and making connections—investigating the cities and the possibilities as much as finding investigators.”21There were some initial logistical challenges in setting up the mission. For instance, at first there was no mission home in Greece, so Neuenschwander supervised the mission while living in Viennese hotels.22 There were additional complications in beginning missionary work in Greece because of government regulations. Neuenschwander did not know how many missionaries he had because getting approved visas in Greece was complicated.23 Most missionaries were from other European countries because the government gave them visas more easily than to Americans.24 Neuenschwander helped regulate the process. Still, there were concerns about assignments so, at first, he classified the missionaries as “students” to get visas approved. Eventually he began listing them as missionaries.25To remedy this obstacle and other problems, a later mission president—John Ludwig (2003–2006)—obtained the services of a good Greek Orthodox attorney who, along with his staff, was very favorable toward the church. When elders were arrested, officers (who were mostly Greek Orthodox) took them to the local police station. Ludwig would then call the attorney, who would go and get them out of the police station. If the missionaries had passports from Europe, the police were merciful, but if the missionaries were from North America, the police were less forgiving. Ludwig remembers one instance in which a missionary companionship was arrested and taken into the police station; one missionary was from Switzerland, while the other was from Philadelphia. The one from Switzerland was released, whereas the companion from the United States was kept overnight. Ludwig stood vigil in front of the police station all that night until the attorney managed to get the missionary out of jail in the morning. Normally they could get missionaries out of jail in about three hours. Missionaries had to carry their passports with them at all times; even so, police would often tear up paperwork right in front of the missionaries before taking them to jail.26Another problem was that Greek banks did not recognize the church as an official organization. Elder Stuparich represented the mission president and met with the president of the Bank of Greece. He obtained a stamp of authorization so that missionaries could transfer foreign money into the Greek banking system, rent mission apartments, and purchase furniture, appliances, and vehicles. Later the missionaries acknowledged “Heavenly Father's hand in [the] design and the success of the stamp.”27Because the church was new, members first met in apartments. In 1987, missionary couple Alonzo and Ranae Plumb got permission from the church building committee to remodel two apartments into a sort of makeshift chapel—they tore down a wall, added a pulpit, and hung drapes.28In 1990, just four years after its creation, the church divided the Austria Vienna East Mission because of the growth that had taken place. This division created the Greece Athens Mission with R. Douglas Phillips as mission president. Prior to his call, Phillips had been a professor of Greek and Latin at Brigham Young University and was building the nascent Classics Department.29 Greek Latter-day Saint Mina Sorenson remarked: “I think he had a very great impact during that time because he was also a classics professor for ancient Greek and Latin. . . . [T]he Greek people felt like he cared about them because he loved the history and the country so much.”30 Under Phillips's presidency the missionary complement grew from one zone and two districts of missionaries (sixteen elders, two sister missionaries, and two missionary couples), to two zones and six districts after just one year. The mission started with three branches in 1990; there were four branches in 1992 and seven in 1994.31Then in May 1999, Elder Charles Didier of the Seventy dedicated the first official meetinghouse in Athens. More than two hundred people attended the services, and investigators made up 20 percent of the congregation. Mission president Tagg B. Hundrup foresaw, “This chapel will be an anchor for the Greek people—as anchors are to many different ships that dock in the harbors of Grecian waters—and will help the Church grow.” After dedicating the building, Didier observed: “This building is a gift of the law of sacrifice by members of the Church. It is an investment of faith. As you continue to live righteously and pay your tithing, other meetinghouses will be built.”32Another indication of growth was the expansion of missionary work to Thessaloniki, a city in northern Greece. For almost a decade there was only one member in Thessaloniki, Antje Panagiotidou, who had moved there in 1979. In 1990, missionary couple James William and Diane H. Pyper and another pair of elders were sent to Thessaloniki. Two years later, on February 9, 1992, the Greece Thessaloniki Branch was organized. At the first meeting there were thirty-two people in attendance, including twelve investigators and the minister of a local Seventh-day Adventist Church. The next day, the area building representative of the Church of Jesus Christ authorized $22,000 to be allocated toward converting the Pypers’ apartment into a meetinghouse. The branch of twenty-five members continued strong, with attendance sometimes up to thirty people. A new building would be dedicated as the meetinghouse for the Thessaloniki Branch in 2006.33The biggest challenge for the missionaries was the unique Greek national identity. Latter-day Saints learned that being Greek Orthodox was a profound part of most Greek citizens’ personalities. For the most part, it had nothing to do with knowing or agreeing with the doctrine and theology of the Greek Orthodox Church. Greek Orthodox bishop Kallistos Ware explains, “Most Greeks, whether or not they are active in practicing their faith, still regard Orthodox Christianity as part of their Greek identity.”34 John Ludwig found in the early 2000s that many Greeks knew nothing about the church. “They didn't even know about the Godhead and what they believed in.”35 His wife Sandra reported people telling her, “I don't care whether it [the GOC] is true or false. I'm Greek and I'm Orthodox and that's that.”36 BYU professor Gaskill agreed that even active Orthodox Christians knew nothing about theology. “It should be important to them. . . . It simply is not.”37Gaskill continued that Greeks were “passionate about the church as part of their culture where people are passionate generally speaking.”38 As Georgios Karyotis and Stratos Patrikios, professors at the University of Strathclyde explain, “Equating commitment to the Orthodox dogma is not equating it with Greek identity.”39 As Latter-day Saint Paulos Karampoulas explained, when he was growing up he attended Easter services at the Orthodox Church. But his mother told him that they attended to be a part of the Greek culture, not because they believed in the religion.40Gaskill recalled that many Greeks will say, “We're Orthodox.” Then if they're asked, “Do you believe in God?” they'll reply, “Oh no, no, no.” To them, “to be Greek is to be Orthodox, and to be Orthodox is to be Greek.” When Gaskill joined the Church of Jesus Christ after being raised as Greek Orthodox, his mother told him that if he left the Orthodox Church, he would no longer be Greek. Gaskill replied to his mother, “Converting to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will not change my DNA.” His mother responded, “If you leave the church, you leave your Greekness.”41 Still, while most Greeks did not know their theology, a 2015 survey found 74.2 percent believe in God. Belief did not translate to church attendance though.42 Gaskill remembers his parents considered themselves active even though he was the only one in the family who attended church. He explains that if Greek Orthodox members claim to believe in Orthodoxy, then they think they are active. For instance, making the sign of the cross before a meal or before or after prayer is synonymous with being Greek Orthodox, and they consider themselves active Orthodox, even though they go to church only on a few religious holidays.43Archimandrite George Nikas (Father George) of the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Salt Lake City states that belonging to organizations—youth organizations, youth camps, philanthropic organizations of women's ministry teams, Sunday school, Greek school, Greek dance groups, bible studies, and so on—is considered more important than church attendance on Sunday. As he explains, a Greek's intensity for life comes not from a belief in Christianity but how the Greeks live their lives. He calls this a “Zest for Life” that revolves around culture and food.44Because of this strong national character, Latter-day Saint missionaries find that most Greeks are not interested in other denominations, “and they become angry when they detect encroachment into Greek soil. . . . The presence of non-Orthodox Christians and people of other religions in Greek territory is an ongoing affront to them.”46 According to Pollis: Since orthodoxy is central to being Greek . . . those of another religion, even if [they are] citizens of Greece . . . are not viewed as sharing a national identity: they are not an integral part of the spiritual community or the ethnos. As a consequence, whereas the non-Orthodox may be citizens, they may not be free to exercise their religion and may be denied those liberties and privileges that accrue specifically to those deemed to be “Greek” or “Russian.” While violations of religious freedom are the most obvious, there are often other restrictions on rights which stem from this organic ontology when threats are perceived to national integrity or cohesion.47With this dislike of foreigners, missionaries had to deal with tight government regulations created because of the strong political and cultural control of the Greek Orthodox Church. In the 1990s, the GOC, legally as well as politically, continued to obstruct individuals’ freedom to change religions or disseminate other religious beliefs. In 1995, the GOC made it a crime to erect or operate a church or a house of worship of a different creed or religion, and also outlawed proselytization.48Because proselyting was technically illegal, missionaries did not wear name tags. Missionary Dion Kapetanov described how strange it was to wear a name tag for two months in the missionary training center and then be required to take it off as soon as he got to Greece. He shared, “Although we were a small group of twelve missionaries, who didn't knock on doors, teach discussions daily, wear name tags or take part in other stereotypical activities, we testified of Jesus Christ, taught the Gospel, gave service and love [to] the people of Greece, and laid a foundation for future work.”49But what constituted proselyting was somewhat unclear. David Garrett recalled that “it was considered legal to proselyte to a point.” He added, “We got tired of not doing a whole lot so we just kind of started knocking doors, and we just tested the waters. It was not necessarily legal—but not illegal—and so we were free to talk to people.”50 Still, trying to contact people sometimes resulted in incarceration for proselyting illegally. One missionary remarked, “I ended up in prison three times.”51 In June 1991, the police charged four missionaries with illegal proselyting; all were declared innocent. This case became a defining moment for the Greek mission and confirmed that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had a legal right to do missionary work in the country of Greece.52 Proselyting was eventually legalized in the mid-1990s with Greece as part of the European Union. Unfortunately, not everyone in Greece was aware of this change and missionaries still ended up in prison for proselyting and had to be bailed out.53There were other problems. Pollis stated that there were legal, judicial, and administrative restrictions on religious minorities so members encountered instrumental obstacles in establishing houses of worship or freely practicing their religion. In addition, the police could imprison them even though the Greek constitution prohibited it. According to Pollis, the reasoning was that “such freedom erodes Greco-Christian (Orthodox) foundations of the Greek state.”54With these legal limitations, “street boarding” became a common activity. Missionaries set up large display boards on a street or in a busy area. Missionary Dion Kapetanov tells us that street boarding was more effective than tracting door to door.55 Though the activity was supposed to be nonthreatening, it often still caused commotion and drew police officers.56 For instance, Curtis Sandy was street boarding when a woman brought the police to the display and claimed that the missionaries were proselyting. The police officers took the elders in for questioning. After the elders explained that they were just talking about the Book of Mormon without imposing any obligations, they were let go.57 Since regulations also prevented missionaries from giving away copies of the Book of Mormon for free, missionaries would sell the books at a low price of twenty drachmas, the equivalent of a few American cents.Into the 2000s, missionaries had to carry special papers issued by the Supreme Court of Priests, giving them authority to proselyte. Even then each of the missionaries was almost arrested at least one time. In some missionaries’ minds, if they were not arrested at least once, they were not being a successful missionary.58Father George explains that Greeks are very proud of their accomplishments and that “most Greeks will probably tell you they are much prouder of who they were as ancient Greeks. . . . They are very proud of what they have offered civilization including democracy, architecture, the arts, and Greek cuisine.”59 Ludwig concurs, “The Greek people are good people, but they are very proud people and they're very proud of their heritage.”60 However, there is a dichotomy in this pride, as Gaskill explains: “If you're Greek, then you take great pride in who you are. You started democracy—Greece is the cradle of democracy—but you have complete intolerance of religion.”61 Similarly, Kaloudis tells us that “Greeks . . . applaud most loud when politicians give speeches about . . . glorious ancient Greece.”62 But taking great pride in this cultural heritage has come at the expense of other important tenets such as religious freedom and individual rights.As Latter-day Saints came to Greece, they tried to respect this heritage and the pride that Greeks have for their past, even though some religious freedoms were curtailed. For instance, at the first dedication ceremony for a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse in Greece, Didier expressed his appreciation “for the freedom of religion and the freedom of expression found in Greece.” He also recognized Greece as “the cradle of civilization, and the country where the first Christians were baptized.”63Outside observers find it remarkable that even though the Greeks lay claim to developing democracy, they are very reluctant to give religious freedom to others and are intolerant of other faiths. Ludwig found this to be true in that even though the Greek people do not seem to have a freedom to choose their religion, they are still very proud of their heritage.64However, Father George does not see the Greeks as being intolerant of other sects. He argues that because Greece was established as a Christian nation to begin with, having roots in the New Testament, it is not that “Greece is intolerant of Islam or Roman Catholicism or Protestantism or Mormonism or Hinduism or anything like that, but the Greek people themselves simply are not easily convinced to change their faith.” As he observes: We've had that discussion with LDS missionaries who go to Greece and they'll come back and usually they're disappointed because usually they don't have that much success as opposed to other foreign countries in gaining new congregants to the faith because most Greek Orthodox are rooted strongly in their religion. . . . I would argue among the Orthodox people . . . it would take a mountain to get them to change what they are. They may not be as active in the church or participate in different things, but they know where they come from and who they are.65According to constitutional law expert Nicos Alivizatos, “The most important privilege of the GOC deriving from the prevailing religion clause in the Greek constitution is Orthodox tuition in the Greek schools.”66 In addition, the Greek state regulates the religious mark