Tsipras: "It's time for the religious neutrality of the Greek state to be enshrined in Constitution"

"I think that the State, the political world, the Church, the citizens and the faithful, today have the maturity, the wisdom and the sensitivity to accept the rationalization of these relations," he noted.

The Prime Minister said he appreciates "that there is also a broad consensus here to move into a new era in the relations between the State and the Church" because, as he added, neither the Church nor the State want to embrace them within an institutional framework that confuses the limits and their roles.

"The time has come so that the religious neutrality of the Greek state will be explicitly enshrined in the Constitution, with what this implies in terms of regulation and practice," Mr. Tsipras said, expressing the certainty that this explicit guarantee "will be in agreement with the Church, which she also wants, as it says, a clear outline of its relations with the State. And this will be an important step towards the modernization and liberalization of the Constitution.

He pointed out that this is an important step for the necessary separation of the roles between the State and the Church, which is not an exclusively constitutional issue, but concerns a labyrinthial legislative and regulatory grid, which does not change from one day to the next. "On the contrary, it requires a dialogue with respect and honesty. It presupposes goodwill and long-term joint work, "added Mr. Tsipras.

The Prime Minister reassured the leadership of the Church: "We are going to this dialogue with this very spirit." "Indeed, I have also been assured by Archbishop Ieronymos, with whom we associate in mutual appreciation and our dialogue has been thought to have matured over three years so that we know what is necessary and what is mutually beneficial both for Church and the State," he said.