This week the research platform People of Greece recorded the Easter habits of Greeks, their relationship with faith and their opinion on the role the Church should play in public affairs.
The findings showed that:
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The celebration of Easter is a unifying event for Greeks, as the vast majority of them attend church services, fast, prepare and consume traditional food and watch religious films on television.
- Questions of faith divide Greeks, even though the vast majority of them say they believe in God. The manner in which the Holy Light is lit at the Holy Sepulcher, the afterlife and the acceptance of the biblical scriptures bring together different views even among those who profess faith.
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The majority of Greeks accept the involvement of the Church in established habits of everyday life, such as the religious oath, school prayer and the teaching of religious education, but a majority tendency is beginning to emerge in favor of the separation of the Church from the State in matters of formality, such as the issuing of identity cards, the operation of crematoria and the remuneration of priests.
See in detail the opinion of Greeks in the infographics below.
Easter habits
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Two out of three Greeks attend at least some Holy Week services and fast at least some of the days of Holy Week.
- Eggs, tsourekia, lamb or goat are almost universally consumed by Greeks during the Easter period, while cooked meat is consumed by only three out of five Greeks. Easter dishes are prepared at home by the vast majority of Greeks, with the exception of tsourekia, which most of them buy ready-made.
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Two out of three Greeks will not leave home for Easter, and 85% of Greeks will watch at least some of the screenings of films about the life of Christ on TV.
Religious faith and practice
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The way in which the Holy Light is lit on the Holy Sepulcher divides Greeks, with 48% of them stating that it is lit naturally and 35% that it is lit in an artificial way. Responses to the question correlate strongly with political self-positioning on the “left-right” axis.
- Four out of five Greeks say they believe in God, with 3/5 of them answering that they believe in God as described in the Bible, and not just as some higher spiritual power in the universe. One in five Greeks say they do not believe in God, with half saying they believe in the existence of some higher spiritual power and the other half saying they do not believe in the existence of any such power in the universe.
- Only one in three Greeks believe that after death the dead go to heaven or hell, while an equal proportion believe that after death the dead simply perish.
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Almost one in two Greeks and two in five Greeks pray daily.
Role of the Church in public affairs
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The degree of intervention of the Church in public affairs divides the Greeks, as 1/3 of them believe that it should have a say to some or a great extent and a little more than 1/3 believe that it should not intervene anywhere. The view of non-intervention is strongly majority among Greeks who self-position themselves on the left.
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Most Greeks disagree with the abolition of school prayer, the teaching of Religious Education and the religious oath in court, but at the same time there is a clear tendency to accept the operation of crematoria, the non-registration of religion on identity cards and the payment of priests’ salaries by the Church rather than by the state. The above issues continue to maintain a strong distinction on the classic “left-right” axis.
