MINISTRY REPORT: More than 2,000 incidents of desecration of Greek Orthodox Churches

A report released Greece's Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs has found 2,339 incidents of desecration of the country's Greek Orthodox churches during the five year period between 2015-2020, making them the main target among the various religious groups in the country, accounting for approximately 92.57% of the cases.

There appears to be a correlation between the increase in illegal migration and the incidents of attacks on Greek Orthodox religious churches and religious spaces during the five year period which occurred during the peak of the migration crisis.

According to the report, for 2020 there were four hundred and four (404) incidents of attacks of religious spaces, broken down by religion as follows:

Christianity:

Three hundred and eighty five (385) incidents of all kinds (vandalism, burglary, theft, sacrilege, necromancy, robbery, placement of explosive devices and other desecrations).

Specifically:

• Three hundred and seventy four (374) incidents concern the Orthodox Church, ie 92.57% of the total.

• Seven (7) incidents concern the Catholic Church, ie 1.73% of the total.

• Four (4) incidents concern the 'Genuine' Orthodox Christians (G.O.H.), ie 0.99% of the total.

• Judaism:

Ten (10) incidents of a racist / anti-Semitic nature, ie 2.48% of the total.

• Islam:
Nine (9) cases, ie 2.23% of the total.