Athens, 17 February 2025 — A recent study reveals a sharp increase in thefts at religious sites across Greece, with 2023 marking a record year for such incidents. According to the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs, and Sports, thefts targeting Orthodox churches have significantly escalated.
The study, which has been monitoring these incidents since 2015, reports almost 4,000 cases of damage, theft, and vandalism at Orthodox churches over the past nine years. In 2023 alone, a staggering 591 incidents were recorded, exceeding the 564 cases reported in 2022.
While attacks on places of worship for other religions are relatively rare, Jewish sites experienced 65 incidents over the same nine-year period. Meanwhile, the Catholic Church in Greece, overseeing 233 sites, has experienced no theft, vandalism, or damage since 2020.
In 2023, a total of 608 incidents affecting religious sites of all denominations were documented. These incidents included a wide range of offenses, such as vandalism, break-ins, theft, robbery, sacrilege, desecration of graves, and arson.
For Orthodox churches, the majority of incidents involved burglaries and thefts of money, religious artifacts, and valuables. Some thefts were notably organized, with criminals specifically targeting high-value items like copper baptismal fonts, air conditioning units, wooden fittings, and church bells.
In a particularly startling trend, 20 church bells were reported stolen from Orthodox churches within a year. Among the stolen items were two massive 800-kilogram bells from Profitis Ilias Church in Acharnes (Menidi), northwest of Athens, and a 200-kilogram bell taken from Agios Georgios Church in the Pieria region of northern Greece, underscoring the brazen and organized nature of these thefts.