"Clean Up" of Orthodox Church called for in Greece

The Prime Minister of Greece, Costas Karamanlis has called for a "total clean-up" of the Greek Orthodox Church, following a series of controversial incidents among the highest members of the church.

Just days after Greece’s Orthodox Church suspended a senior bishop for ethical misconduct and embezzlement of parish funds, Karamanlis said in a speech to the parliamentary group on Tuesday: "We hail every effort by the Church to proceed with an internal clean-up, a clean-up which is obligatory if the prestige of the church is to be maintained. That is why compromise must be ruled out, in favour of bold decisions."

Metropolitan bishop, Panteleimon of Attica, is one of dozens of clergy charged with numerous church allegations and has been temporarily suspended for six months pending an investigation.

"The allegations have been fueled by the nightly broadcast on private television stations of alleged wiretaps of telephone conversations containing lurid financial and even sexual details," reports the Associated Faith Press.

A probe looking into the allegations have reached up to Archbishop Christodoulos , the Greek Orthodox Church’s highest ranking member. Police are investigating to see if he had appealed to a judge in 1996 by writing a letter in support for a drug trafficker to be released from detention.

In addition, a priest that was previously suspended has been arrested and charged with several offences. Allegedly he had broken four laws in several trial cases and as a result has been detained as a potential flight risk.

The church in Greece has recently therefore made proposals to amend legislation that would make it easier to prosecute certain members of the clergy that abused their positions and broke the law.

Also a current interest has arisen which has seen a call for a separation of the Orthodox Church to take place from the State.

The Greek Orthodox Church is the country’s largest denomination with approximately 97% of the country’s native population proclaiming their loyalty to this faith.