A/HRC/10/11/Add.3 page 11 32. Participants noted the possibility of a Bill to go before Parliament allowing official registration under the Ministry of Education and Religion, which is considered positive if enacted. The recent removal of religion from national identity cards is felt to have been an important and positive development. 33. The Roman Catholic Church is not legally recognized10 despite an estimated 250,000 Greek Catholics, although the government notes that the matter is under review and scheduled for a determination within 2009. The Catholic Cathedral was damaged in the 1999 Athens earthquake. Despite financial assistance to other damaged places of worship, no assistance has been provided for urgent repairs to the Cathedral. Following a visit to Greece by the Pope in 2001, ecumenical dialogue to reunite the churches has more clearly established the closeness of Catholics and Greek Orthodox beliefs with subsequent greater acceptance and freedom of expression. However problems of underlying prejudice and vocal anti-Catholic sentiment including by politicians and religious leaders continue. 34. Representatives of Jehovah’s Witnesses welcomed progress in regard to treatment of conscientious objectors who are now permitted to do non-military national service. However they object that the duration is double that of military service. In regard to proselytization, previously a crime punishable with a prison sentence, European Court judgments against Greece have had significant impact on domestic treatment. It is no longer a criminal offence other than in extreme conditions of coercion. However anti-proselytization laws of 1936 and 1939 have not been rescinded. Proselytization cases have been rejected by the courts, however participants claimed that cases of harassment occur each month on the basis of defunct proselytization laws. 35. The Baha’i faith was established in Greece in 1912 yet lacks official recognition. It does not have houses of worship, and requires only administrative structures, yet the law requires permission even for a “meeting place”. Representatives described undue obstacles and restrictions imposed as a form of petty harassment. Baha’i representatives also highlighted problems regarding burial places for Baha’i. Cemeteries are administered by the Greek Orthodox Church and permission must be sought to bury those of other faiths. In one incident, a Bishop granted permission but on seeing the gravestone with Baha’i inscriptions, allegedly threatened to destroy the grave. 36. The Muslim minority is only officially recognized in Western Thrace, however, over recent years large numbers of Muslims have migrated to Greece and settled in other areas where they face challenges to religious freedoms. In Athens there are no recognized Mosques and no 10 In December 1997 the European Court of Human Rights ruled10 that Greece was in violation of the European Convention since denial of legal personality placed a real restriction on the Church to bring complaints to a domestic court. In response, in 1999 Parliament enacted legislation that extends legal recognition as a private entity to Roman Catholic churches and related entities established prior to 1946. The Catholic Church unsuccessfully has sought government recognition of its canon law since 1999. It has also sought unsuccessfully for a legal procedure to recognize its religious institutions built after 1946.