Presseurop |

Romania-Greece | Orthodox church at the gates of purgatory (România libera, Bucharest)

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:20:48 +0100

In Bucharest and in Athens, the exacerbation of the economic crisis has undermined public tolerance for the privileges enjoyed by the Orthodox Church. If things do not change, warns România Liberă, the organisation runs the risk of paying a heavy cultural tribute. (Article)

Greece | Church fortune to remain sacrosanct (Le Monde, Paris)

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 16:27:04 +0100

As the country struggles with the crisis and its consequences, the assets of the Orthodox Church have yet to be affected by the government’s stringent austerity measures. Le Monde reports on a taboo that protects the Church’s close links with the state and the clergy’s influence on public policy. (Article)

Moldova | Happy Hanukkah, Borat style

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:07:48 +0100

On the front page of its 13 December edition, Moldovan daily Timpul leads with news of an "Anti-Semitic outrage in downtown Chisinau," which took the form of a demonstration involving several hundred people carrying "Orthodox flags, and brandishing hammers and sticks." Led by an Orthodox priest who claimed he was acting "to defend his homeland," the demonstrators destroyed a nine-branched menorah candelabrum installed in a public park in celebration of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which they then replaced with a wooden cross. The Moldovan Jewish community accounts for approximately 23,000 of Moldova's four-million strong population.

(News in brief)

Moldova | Christmas with the Europeans

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:56:41 +0100

"We've moved closer to Europe," runs the headline in the Jurnal de Chisinau to announce the good news that for the first time since the end of World War Two, Moldovans will be celebrating Crăciun (Christmas) on 25th December rather than on 7th January. The Jurnal welcomes the decision by the government in Chisinau to adopt the date set by the Gregorian (Catholic) calendar instead of the one fixed by the Julian calendar (Orthodox), which has been in use ever since Moldova was annexed by the Soviet Union. “Now we can celebrate Christmas on the same day as all other European Christians,” rejoices the Moldovan daily, describing it as “another step towards the EU.”

(News in brief)

Greece | Church refuses alms to the state (To Ethnos, Athens)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:43:08 +0100

In response to a major public spending deficit, Greece's socialist government wants to impose a tax on the assets of the country's Orthodox Church, the Church of Greece (CoG). But the powerful institution, which is Greece's largest property owner and a state within the state, has turned a deaf ear to the government's demands. (Article)