A/51/542/Add.1
English
Page 13
religious freedom, affecting, in particular, the participation of the Greek
Orthodox Church in the organization of powers and its relationship with minority
beliefs and forms of worship do not seem to be the subject of any revision. In
1996, following a meeting with the Greek Orthodox authorities, the
representatives of the Commission apparently stated that they had no reason to
amend the constitutional articles relating to religious matters.
II.
IMPLEMENTATION OF LEGISLATION AND POLICY IN THE
FIELD OF TOLERANCE AND NON-DISCRIMINATION BASED
ON RELIGION OR BELIEF
54. The Special Rapporteur has analysed both the situation of the religious
minorities and that of the dominant Orthodox Church (the religion of about
95 per cent of the population).
A.
Situation of religious minorities
55. During his visit, the Special Rapporteur gathered some figures relating to
the religious minorities. Only estimates could be compiled (see table below)
since, according to the Greek authorities, the State has no official statistics
on religious minorities. According to the non-governmental representatives, the
State’s figures have not included the religious factor since 1951.
Religious minorities
Estimated figures
Christian minorities
Catholics
About 50,000 Greek Catholics
About 40,000 settled foreign Catholics
About 80,000 Polish refugee Catholics
About 45,000 refugee Filipino Catholics
Protestants
About 20,000
Orthodox Christians of
the Old Calendar
About 700,000 to 1 million
Jehovah’s Witnesses
About 70,000
Jewish minority
About 4,000
Muslim minority
About 120,000
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