THE GREEK WAY OF LIFE
FAITH & IDENTITY
social, political and economic infl uence. Greece doesn’t have the same
Church-state separation as other Western countries (priests are paid by
the state) and until relatively recently religious affi liation appeared on
national identity cards. Non-Orthodox Greeks can still have a hard time
joining the civil service or military; civil marriages were only recognised
in the early 1980s; and cremation was only legalised in 2006, after much
controversy.
Religious rituals are part of daily life. You will notice taxi drivers,
motorcyclists and people on public transport making the sign of the
cross when they pass a church; compliments to babies and adults are
followed by the ‘‘ftou ftou’ (spitting) gesture to ward off the evil eye.
Many Greeks will go to a church when they have a problem, to light
a candle or leave a votive off ering to the relevant saint. Hundreds of
small chapels dotted around the countryside have been predominantly
built by individual families and dedicated to particular saints. The tiny
iconostases (chapels) you see on roadsides are either shrines to people
who died in road accidents or similar dedications to saints. If you wish
to look around a church or monastery, you should always dress appro-
priately. Arms should be covered, women should wear skirts that reach
below the knees and men should wear long trousers.
While religious freedom is part of the constitution, the only other
legally recognised religions in Greece are Judaism and Islam; non-
Orthodox faiths do not have the same legal status.
With Greece’s Muslim population estimated to be close to 500,000,
many makeshift mosques operate in Athens, which closed all mosques
after Independence. Though approved at the offi cial level, construction
of an offi cial mosque remains mired in controversy and delays.
Greek Jews number about 5000, with small Jewish communities in
Ioannina, Larisa, Halkida and Rhodes (dating back to the Roman era)
and Thessaloniki, Kavala and Didymotiho (mostly descendants of 15th-
century exiles from Spain and Portugal).
Greece also has more than 50,000 Catholics, mostly of Genoese or
Frankish origin and living in the Cyclades, especially on Syros, where
they make up 40% of the population.The sexual
liberation of
Greek society
(and HIV/AIDS)
have virtually
killed off the infa-
mous Greek lover
known as the
kamaki (literally
a fishing trident)
who courted
foreign women on
the islands in the
1970s and ’80s.