Greece Sees Sharp Drop in Attacks on Religious Sites, but Orthodox Churches Remain Overwhelmingly Targeted

A church in Greece that was attacked. Photo: Orthodoxia News Agency

ATHENS — Greece experienced a significant decline in attacks on places of religious importance in 2024, according to the newly released annual report of the General Secretariat for Religious Affairs. As reported by Orthodoxia News Agency, the total number of recorded incidents fell from 608 in 2023 to 412 in 2024 — a substantial decrease but still considered troubling by authorities. Of these, 399 incidents, or 96.84 percent, targeted the Orthodox Church, confirming it remains the primary target of such offenses.

The report, compiled by the Department of Religious Freedoms and Interreligious Relations, outlines incidents ranging from burglary and vandalism to grave desecration, arson, and other forms of sacrilege. Christianity accounted for 404 incidents in total, including three involving Old Calendarists, one against Jehovah’s Witnesses, and one against the Armenian Orthodox community. Judaism recorded five mostly anti-Semitic incidents, while Islamic sites were targeted three times.

The 2024 report includes an overview of Greece’s legal protections for religious freedom, a description of the incident-recording network, detailed breakdowns of cases by religious community, and statistical mapping by region and month. It also distinguishes between investigated and unsolved incidents.

In his introductory note, Secretary General of Religious Affairs Giorgos Kalantzis highlighted the report’s 10th anniversary, noting that what began in 2015 as a reform to gather reliable data has become a well-established annual practice. Over the past decade, he said, the report has expanded to offer broader historical and legal context on Greece’s religious communities and institutional safeguards for religious freedom, serving both as a data source and an educational reference.

Previously, UOJ reported that Greece had pledged funding for restoration work on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

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