Religion and Politics in Greece: An Empirical Study of the Political Discourse of the Church of Greece during Crisis (2015-2019)

This paper explores the political significance of the public discourse of the Church of Greece (CoG) during the period 2015–2019. Religion plays a significant role in Greek society and is closely affiliated to national identity and cultural heritage. Through its active intervention on public debates, the CoG contributes significantly to the formation of the overall political culture in Greece and has a notable and historically constant influential effect in the domestic political system. These interventions are of particular importance in the period 2015–2019 for two main reasons. First, they take place during a period in which, for the first time in Greek history, the government is exercised by a political party of the Left (SYRIZA). Second, during this period Greece is still under a manifold financial, social, and political crisis that deeply affects and transforms Greek society. The paper seeks to provide an understanding of the public discourse of the Church of Greece by presenting the results of an empirical study conducted by using the methods of discourse analysis and quantitative content analysis. The analysis includes letters, official discourses, public presentations and interventions of the main representatives of the Church of Greece (Archbishop, Metropolitans, other members of the clergy, lay representatives of the church) and the official statements and the press releases of the Holy Synod as well as the public interventions of church officials covered in two major Greek newspapers (Kathimerini, EfSyn). Through this methodological approach, the research explores in depth the main thematic agenda of the Church of Greece, the reference to domestic and international institutions, the various strategies of framing used in order to achieve specific goals. The analysis is especially focused on how the agenda and the frames interact with regard to the CoG’s active public role as an “established church” and/or a “public religion”. Our findings indicate the following: first, the CoG intervenes to a considerable number of issues not strictly related to religion/church-state relations or even the financial and social crisis (where a limited level of reference is evident), but also to other issues such as religious education, matters of “national interest” or issues related to the cultural heritages and the moral values of Greek society; second, the main framing devices of CoG’s discourse vary from identity to conflict frames depending on the framing sources; third, through institutional and media discourse the CoG is promoted as both an established church and a public religion.